SS Justice
by LiaTheLaxChick
Summary: AU: Artemis is the new girl on the boat. Taken in by Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance, Artemis is transported into a new life on the high seas. Slowly but surely, she adjusts to her new life, and is even happy. But how long will it last? Sorry for the bad summary. Lots of Spitfire and arrow family bonding. Chalant and Supermartian are also included.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my very first story! It's rated T for minor swearing and because I am paranoid. I hope you guys all like it:) In this story, none of them have superpowers and there is no Justice League, everybody is Normal. In my story they are all sixteen, except for Roy, who is eighteen. Enjoy!:) **

A New Start

Artemis stared up at the ship skeptically. It was pretty big, she would give it that.

"Of course it is big idiot." She thinks to herself. "It's the biggest cruise ship in the world, it's supposed to be gigantic."

Artemis watched as people rushed by, hurrying to get on the ship before its departure. Others looked for loved ones on the deck of the boat as they waved goodbye. It was pretty stupid, the people would be back in a week... maybe two weeks. There was no need for the stupid fan fair.

"Artemis!" The girl turned to the kind faced, blond haired man approaching her. He wore an expensive polo, cargo shorts, and Sperries. For the first time that day, Artemis smiled.

"Hi Ollie." She said as the older man pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

"You have all your things?" He asked as he eyed the single backpack Artemis had slung over her shoulder.

"Yep." Artemis said. "Is Dinah here?"

"Yes she is. She is super excited to see you again." Oliver says as he leads Artemis to the giant ship.

After Artemis was moved from Gotham City to Star City by social services when she was thirteen, she had some trouble...adjusting. The state had sent Dinah into the orphanage in Star City she had been staying at. The two had connected. Dinah would often take Artemis out around to explore the city. Ollie, her boyfriend, would come too sometimes, which is how the two had met.

A few weeks ago, her father tried to get into contact with her again. This time instead of shipping her off to some new city, Ollie and Dinah suggested that they come stay with the two of them on the cruise ship Ollie and Brue Wayne had just bought together. It was the latest thing in Queen and Wayne industries, a cruise ship. Ollie and Dinah wanted to adopt her, they already had Roy living with them.

Originally the couple had been planning on splitting their time between living on the ship and their mansion in Star City, but now they were just going to be staying on the ship with Artemis and Roy.

The two of them walked onto the ship. Artemis eyed the people scurrying around the deck with caution. As a force of habit, she scanned the crowd for any potential threats, security guards, exits, and potential things to steal. Twelve years of training can do that to a person. They stopped on the deck for a moment.

"I have to check in with one of my employees, Hal, for a moment. He was doing some quick repairs on deck when I left to go get you and I want to check and see how that is going. Hang out up here for a few moments, I should only be a few minutes." Oliver says. Artemis nods and then watches him disappear into the crowds of people.

Artemis stood awkwardly in the middle of the deck. She had no clue what to do. She was way out of her element. She belonged on some shady street in Gotham, not a huge fancy cruise ship.

Tentatively, she took a step towards an area where lots of beach chairs were set up. She assumed it was some sort of tanning place. She figured she could wait out Ollie there. She took another step, and then another. People didn't notice her as they moved around, carrying luggage and trying to keep up with their excited children running across the deck.

Suddenly, Artemis felt herself get knocked over and she fell to the ground. She was trapped under the weight of another person. Artemis found herself suddenly starring into bright green eyes. Artemis did not know how to react.

"Oops, sorry beautiful, my bad." The boy said. Artemis still just stared into the green of his eyes. "You okay? Need any sort of mouth to mouth?"

The boy gave her a wink, and Artemis snapped out of it. She shoved the guy off of her, and stood up, hoping nothing had been broken in her backpack because of the idiot in front of her.

"I'm fine. Watch where you are going next time, Baywatch." Artemis replied, taking in the fact that the guy was shirtless and wearing swim shorts. She also noticed that he had a friend wearing sunglasses who was off to the side a little bit, cackling.

"Hey you." She said to the friend. He turned to her. The boy was about her height.

"Yeah?" The boy asked. He had stopped laughing.

"Shut up." She said. The two boys both stared at her.

"What's your problem?" The boy who had run into her asks.

"Annoying boys who don't look where they are going." Artemis replied.

The shorter of the two, the one who had not run into her, began to cackle again. She just sighed and walked away.

Wally watched the girl walk away. Sure she was hot, but she totally had some sort of an attitude problem. He said less then twenty words to her, and she freaked out on him and Dick.

"That was strange." Wally simply said as he and Dick continued to make their way to the pool where the rest of their friends were. Wally and his uncle had been a part of the crew since the cruise ship originally opened for business two months ago. He and Dick had been friends since they were little, but they had quickly made friends with several other teens on the boat as well.

"You know who that is right?" Dick asks Wally as the pool comes into sight. Kaldur, Raquel, and Connor were all already swimming while Megan and Zatanna looked on.

"No, who is it?" Wally asked absentmindedly as he stared at Megan who looked super hot in a green bikini. Of course, she only had eyes for Connor.

"That's Artemis Crock." Dick said.

"Ollie's charity case?" Wally asked.

"That's the one. "

"Why is she here again?" Wally asked his friend.

"Dinah knows her from one of her therapy sessions."

"Oh." Wally says. The two of them approach their friends. "She seems like a bitch."

"Who seems like a bitch?" Zatanna asks, as she looks over at us.

"Artemis Crock." Wally replies, dropping his towel on a chair.

"Who is that?" Connor asks, swimming over to us. We were the only ones at the pool for the moment since everyone was too busy either getting on the ship or getting off. The teens had been given the day off and were grateful they did not have to deal with the chaos.

"Oliver's charity case. She seems like some rude and ungrateful street rat." Wally replies, mostly at annoyance from the way she talked to him. She was actually really pretty.

"Umm..."Dick says uncomfortably. Wally looked over at his friend, who was indiscreetly pointing behind him. Wally spun around to see the one and only Artemis Crock standing behind him. She glared at him and his friends before spinning around and walking away.

"I'm guessing that that was her?" Megan asked. Wally nodded.

"Way to go Wallman." Dick says cackling before diving into the pool.

"I feel bad now." Zatanna says. Megan nods in agreement.

"Whatever, you guys are being such girls." Wally says, diving into the water as well, even though he felt the same as the two of them.

Artemis was pissed off. She had felt awkward just sitting alone, surrounded by empty beach chairs and had gone to explore the deck a little bit when she heard her name mentioned by those...idiots.

She stomped down the deck, nearly running head first into Ollie.

"Hey, there you are kid. Find anything interesting?" Oliver asked, smiling at her.

"Yeah." Artemis said, trying to act excited. Ollie just looked at her, he saw right through it. He put an arm around her shoulder. Artemis tried not to flinch, people rarely touched her. Oliver led her into the main lobby where lines of people were checking in. He led her towards an elevator.

"I know this is different then what you are used to, but I know that you'll love it soon." Ollie assures her. He presses the down button as the two of them wait for the elevator. A few people notice Ollie and point and whisper, but if he noticed it, he didn't show it.

"I know. So where are we going?" I ask Ollie.

"We're going to your room. We put all the teens who work and live here in the same hallway. You'll have your own room and the room at the end of the hallway will be where you go to school. You'll only go for a few hours a day, and Dinah is the teacher. You'll mostly be doing independent stuff." Oliver explains to her as they wait for the elevator.

"Anything is better then Star City East High School." Artemis says as the doors slide open and the two of them step into the elevator. Oliver laughs.

"I'm sure. Curfew is ten o'clock. For the teens, you guys can do anything for work. Your jobs for the day will be posted in the employee lounge on the days you guys work, which is not every day." Oliver continues as the elevator begins to drop. "I will be handling your paycheck as your guardian. Money for each teen is directly deposited into accounts set up by each teen's guardian on board."

"Sounds good." Artemis says. She wasn't too keen on this whole being surrounded by other teens thing. Sure she was used to it, but not if they are those kids she had seen at the pool, the ones who called her a charity case. She felt a pang in her chest. She hated that word especially since this was not the first time someone had called her it.

The elevator doors opened and Ollie led her down a long hallway.

"Here we go, room B-07." Ollie pulled a key out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Here is your room key. If you ever loose it, I have a master key and we have spares in the employees lounge."

Artemis looked at the simple room. Sheets were laid out in a pile on the bed and there was a simple desk and a set of drawers for her clothes. The room was small, but it was her own. She had to smile at that.

"Thank you Ollie, for everything." Artemis said turning to the man. He smiled and hugged the girl. Artemis stiffened, but then relaxed into his embrace.

"No problem kid. If you ever need me or Dinah, text us. You have our numbers, correct?" Artemis nods. "Good. I'm heading up to the watch tower."

Artemis gives him a look of confusion as she drops her bag on her new bed. "What is the watchtower?"

"It's just what we call the bridge where we control everything on the ship from. Just plug your room number into the keypad in the elevator to go up. You and the other teens all have access to it whenever you need us." Artemis nods again. "Alright, Dinah says she will meet you for dinner. She's currently busy helping people get situated on the boat. Bye Arty."

"Bye Ollie." Artemis said, watching as he left. Artemis sat down on the bed. This was her new home, at least until her dad finds her and she is moved again.

**A/N: You like? Read and Review. Tell me what you thought! I'm new at all of this, so I hope this was not too horrendous. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you everyone for the wonderful reviews, they made me smile. This chapter is a bit slow, but is setting up events in the next chapter, which I am almost done with and should have up tonight or tomorrow. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Young Justice. Otherwise there would be much more spitfire scenes:)**

Friends?

Surprise, after staring at a bare blue wall for an hour, you might get a little bored. Artemis began to braid and unbraid her hair only to do the same thing again. It had taken exactly five minutes to take out her clothes and put them in the drawers, to hang up her Alice in Wonderland poster and put her copy of the book on the desk, Place a picture of her, Dinah, and Ollie on her nightstand, and to put the picture of her mom, sister, and her in the drawer of the night stand. She is a light traveler and has never believed in keeping many keepsakes.

Finally deciding to just keep her hair in her basic ponytail, she got up and walked out of her room. She locked the door behind her and made her way to the elevator. The hallway was completely empty; it was like a ghost town. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the elevator.

When it arrived, she got in and rode it up to the deck. She walked through the lobby, a little less crowded now that it was one in the afternoon, and headed out to explore. She knew that somewhere there had to be an archery range. Both Ollie, her, and Roy all shared a love of it, and she knew that Ollie could not own a cruise ship without an archery range.

Artemis walked along the deck, running her hand along the rail. She stared at the people below on the docks, they were so tiny. For once in her life, Artemis felt superior to someone as she stared at the tiny people below.

"Artemis!" Artemis spun around when she heard her name called. A girl with red hair was running towards her. She didn't know who it was, but she recognized the guy next to her. Baywatch. Great.

"Hey, isn't that Artemis?" Megan asks Wally. Wally spins around, and sure enough the blonde girl was staring over the railing to the docks below. Her blonde hair swished back and forth from the wind.

"I guess so. Let's go around the other way to the ice cream parlor." Wally says grabbing Megan's arm to pull her away. Megan pushed him away.

"Wally, we need to apologize. That was mean earlier."

"She was rude to me first!" Wally exclaims.

"She's probably scared, new environment and all." Megan says.

"Doubt it."

"Wally, we are talking to her and that is final." Megan says fixing Wally with one of her rare glares, making him feel bad. Megan rarely gets mad at anyone, and she was getting mad at him.

"Fine." Wally said quietly. Megan smiled.

"Artemis!" Megan shouted. Artemis spun around, looking confused as we approached her. When she spotted me, she did not look happy. Great.

"Hi, I'm Megan Morse." The girl with the red hair said. She stuck out her hand. Artemis shakes her hand.

"I see you already know my name." Artemis said crossing her arms across her chest.

"Yeah...about earlier. I'm really sorry." Megan said, looking really apologetic.

"It's not your fault, you weren't the one to call me a charity case." Artemis said, glaring at Baywatch, who had been staring at his feet.

"About that, Wally here has something to say." Megan says, elbowing Wally.

"Ow! Really Megan?" Wally asks, rubbing his arm.

"Your real name is Wally? What kind of name is that?" Artemis asks.

"It's short for Wallace." Wally says. The two of them were locked into a staring match.

"So Artemis, what do you think of the boat?" Megan asks, cutting in before the two get into an all out fight.

"It's big." Artemis says.

"No shit." Wally replies. Artemis narrows her eyes at him.

"You got a problem Wallace?" Artemis asks.

"Yeah, I don't get why your here? Can you just like leave?" Wally asks. Megan gasps besides him, but Artemis just laughs.

"You wish Baywatch, I'm here to stay. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to continue my search for the archery range. It was nice meeting you Megan." Artemis said to the girl. She then turned to Wally. "Baywatch. "

With a swish of her hair, Artemis walked away from the two of them. She could not believe that guy Wally. Megan seemed nice though, if only everyone was like her.

Wally sighed, Megan was giving him the silent treatment. She hadn't said a word to him when they got their ice cream, and she still hasn't said a thing to him. Wally and his friends were all hanging out on the basketball court.

Wally took a shot, it hit the backboard and then landed right into the hands of Connor. He looked over at me, confused, before passing the ball out to Zatanna and Dick. Connor walked over to him.

"Hey, Megan told me about what happened with Artemis." Connor starts.

"Of course she did."

"She's actually mad at you, and you know she doesn't usually get angry." Connor says. Wally looked at his feet.

"Yeah." Wally looked around the court. He spotted Kaldur taking a shot and Zatanna and Dick running to get the rebound. He also spotted Raquel reading on a bench, but no Megan. "Where is she?"

"She went to talk to Artemis."

"Of course she did." Wally states.

"Stop being a jerk." Connor says, before walking away to rejoin the basketball game. As always, he was a man of few words and got right to the point. Wally stood there for a second before running to rejoin his friends. He would deal with that stuff later, now was the time to destroy Dick at basketball.

Artemis pulled the bow back, and released the arrow. It soared right into the center of the target. Bulls-eye. It was her tenth bulls-eye in a row. For the first time that day, Artemis geniunly smiled. She put the bow down and then walked over to the bench and grabbed a sip of water.

She was the only one in the range. It was right below the deck, in a large room. According to the sign in front of the door, they offered lessons every morning of the cruise, and then free range shooting in the afternoon. Cool, at least now she knows she'll have some place to escape too.

She got up and walked back over to her target, grabbing the arrows out of it and walked back over to her bow. Smiling, she notched an arrow and concentrated. She eyed the center of the target, pulled the string taunt, and...

"Artemis!" Artemis released the arrow, startled, it went a little wide, hitting to the left of the center. Artemis spun around, to see a smiling Megan.

"Hi Artemis. I brought a peace offering." Megan says, holding up a bag of cookies. "I made them yesterday, but I had some left over."

"Thanks Megan." Artemis says, putting down the bow and accepting the bag of cookies. She pulled one out, not realizing how hungry she had gotten. She took a bite. "These are really good, thanks Megan."

"No problem. I came to apologize for Wally."

"Again." Artemis states blandly.

"Yeah..." Megan said trailing off.

"Megan, I can handle Wally, you don't need to keep apologizing for him being a jerk. I've dealt with worst then the likes of him."

"Oh." Megan says, taking a seat on the bench. Artemis leans up against the wall.

"Really, thanks for the cookies though. I was starving. Where do you get food on this boat anyway?" Artemis asks. Megan smiles.

"Third floor of the ship is the dining room. But there is an ice cream station and pizza station on the deck for those people who don't want to have a formal sit down lunch, but everyone has a sit down dinner in the dining hall."

"What about breakfast?"

"There is usually a buffet on the deck near the stern of the boat."

"Stern?" Artemis asks. Megan laughs.

"Sea talk, its the word for the back of the boat. Bow is front, port is left, and starboard is right." Megan explains.

"Why don't they just use front, back, left, and right?" Artemis asks.

"I don't know, those are just the words they use." Megan says shrugging. "I doubt even my Uncle John knows and he has been working with boats for years."

Artemis just nods. The two of them continue to talk for a little while. Artemis had to admit to herself, it was nice. She had never really had girlfriends before, or really friends. Cameron and her sister were probably her only friends when she was little and then it was Oliver and Dinah.

A boy walked into the archery range in a little while later. He was super tall, really muscular, and had black hair. Artemis' first thought was that he was quite hot. He barely even glance at her though as he approached Megan.

"Hey Megan, we need you." The boy says.

"Hey Connor, this is Artemis." Megan says. Connor looks over at her. They both nod at each other. "Artemis, this is my boyfriend Connor."

"Hey."

"Hi."

"Great! You two know each other now." Megan says clapping. "What do you need me for?" Megan asks, looking up at her tall boyfriend.

"We need a ref. Kaldur and Zatanna finally convinced Raquel to play, and we need you to referee again."

"Basketball? And why do you need me, just ask somebody."

"Because you're impartial."

"And by impartial, you mean I favor you and your team." Megan replies. Connor gives her a mischievous grin.

"Now, I never said that..." He trails off. Megan stands up and kisses his cheek. "Go ahead, I'll be there in a second." Connor leaves the range, and Megan turns to Artemis.

"You want to come?" Megan asks.

"Um..." Artemis trails off.

"You don't even need to know how to play basketball. I don't understand the game at all. I was just so bad and they didn't want to tell me to sit on the bench, so they made me the ref. I really just run around and shout at them to stop before they get into fights." Megan explains smiling.

"Maybe another time." Artemis says.

"How about tonight? After dinner we all hang out on the starboard deck. Which side is that?" Megan asks, teasing.

"Right." Artemis answers, smiling.

"Good? So what do you say? Please?" Megan asks. Artemis stared at her feet for a moment, deciding. She figured she would be forced to spend time with them eventually, might as well get it over with.

"Sure."

**A/N: Tell me what you thought! Read and Review! Any sort of advice or tips you have will be greatly appreciated. **

**I am going to try to update this as much as possible, but school is going to be crazy for the next few weeks so I can't promise a certain schedule or anything. Please bare with me, I really like writing this story, and I hope you all enjoy reading it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Oh my gosh, did you guys watch yesterday's episode? I love the runaway group, they are so cool. I hope they are in future episodes, and where the hell is Wally? Gah, okay, so that was my really small rant. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, it was fun to write. Read and review.**

**Again, I do not own Young Justice. It would be fun though if I did.**

The Replacement

"You did what?" Wally asked, nearly spitting out the chips in his mouth. Dick slapped him on the back to keep him from choking, before commencing to give his signature cackle.

"I invited her to come hang out with us. She should be here soon." Megan replies. Wally sat up in his lounger and looked at her.

"Why Megs? Why?" Wally asked.

"She's really nice, you would like her Wally if you weren't so rude to her." Megan replies, resting her head on Connor's chest.

"Whatever." Wally says, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning back in his seat. They all stared out at the disappearing shore. The boat had left the docks a few hours before and the land was just a distant set of lights.

"Where are we stopping first this time around?" Raquel asks. She sat along the railings, her legs dangling over the edge of the boat.

"I believe we are going across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean." Kaldur says.

"Mmm... I like the sound of that." Raquel replies.

"Me too." Zatanna says.

The teens all continued to talk amongst themselves. They laughed, they teased, and just had a relatively good time. They did not notice the girl watching them from the shadows.

Artemis was nervous. They looked like they were having a good time; she doubted that they really needed her. Maybe she could escape back to her room and read or something. She heard there was a library; she could get a book there.

No, she would do this. Dinah had seemed so excited when she heard that Artemis was going to actually hang out with people her own age. She would do this for Dinah. She approached the group.

"Artemis." Megan said, pulling away from Connor to give the girl a hug. Artemis stiffened as the girl's arms went around her. This was the second time today that she had been hugged. In her whole life she had maybe been hugged twice before today. "Welcome to the group."

Artemis gave a little wave to the teens. They all smiled and waved back, except for Baywatch.

"You know Connor, next to him is Kaldur, and then Zatanna, and Dick. And over there is Raquel." Megan introduces Artemis to everyone. "Pull up a chair, we were just debating which is a better job, kitchen duty or dining duty."

"Kitchen duty is way better." Connor informs her. "You don't have to deal with anyone really. You just cook what you are told to cook."

"Yeah, as a waitress you have to deal with whiny diners." Raquel says, spinning around so that her feet no longer hung over the edge.

"Yeah, but the kitchen is so...chaotic." Kaldur states "and the people aren't that bad."

"That's because you are a saint Kaldur and can deal with anyone." Zatanna says.

"I would have to agree with Kaldur." Megan says.

"Okay, so we stand, two for dining, three for kitchen." Raquel summarizes.

"I don't mind serving, because if somebody is a jerk, you can sneak extra chili powder or something onto their food. There are so many ways to get back at them without them knowing." Dick says.

"Wait, were you the one who put hot sauce on my BLT two weeks ago?" Raquel accuses him. Dick cackles.

"Jerk." Raquel huffs, narrowing her eyes at the boy.

"Both jobs just make me hungry, so both are terrible." Wally says munching on chips.

Artemis watched this all. It was so... weird. She hadn't contributed to the conversation in anyway, but just being apart of a group, it felt nice.

"What do you think Artemis?" Dick asks.

"I'll pass considering I haven't done either yet."

"Well which do you think is worse?" Zatanna asks.

"Um...I've never really cooked before, but it looks like it might be fun, and people can get really annoying, so I would have to say that dining duty would probably be the worst." Artemis concludes. Raquel high fives her.

"Good answer newbie." Raquel says to her. Artemis smiles.

"What do you think of the S.S. Justice so far?" Kaldur asks her.

"It seems pretty cool." Artemis replies.

"Just out of curiosity, why are you here again?" Wally asks her. She narrows her eyes at him.

"Oliver and Dinah offered me the chance and I figured it would be a good opportunity." She replies. This is enough for everyone else, but she could tell that Wally didn't really believe it. Well, he can deal; they don't need to know the full truth just yet.

Wally's alarm clock woke him up the next morning. The ringing in his ears was annoying enough for him to stop it. He groaned and stumbled out of bed, throwing on a pair of shorts and a red and yellow t-shirt. He walked into his bathroom and brushed his teeth.

Last night had been weird. Artemis was actually not that bad...to everyone but him. She got along with everyone really well, but then he would say something and she would have some really sarcastic thing to say in reply. It was infuriating. What was even more infuriating was the fact that he couldn't get her out of his head. She was hot definitely but when she smiled, it was rare, but when she did, the world just seemed to grow brighter. She was still insufferable in his mind, but maybe... just maybe...

Wally shook all the crazy thoughts out of his head and walked out of his room. He stepped into the elevator and a few seconds later another person was running into it. Wally looked over to see that it was Artemis to have catapulted herself into the elevator at the last second. She wore a green tank top, leather jacket, and jean shorts.

"You know, you'll probably get hot wearing a jacket all day." Wally stated. It was May and they were on course for the Mediterranean, she has got to be crazy.

"Mind your own business Baywatch. Who made you the clothing police?" Artemis asked, narrowing her eyes at him. He could think of a bunch of dirty comebacks to make, but based on the look in her eyes, he shut his mouth.

"Fine, just trying to be nice, don't need to get so pissy." Wally replies.

"Whatever, I'll be fine. No need to worry about the charity case." Artemis says. Wally gulped, so she was still mad about that. Luckily, the elevator reached the main floor and Artemis got off and walked away from him quickly. He followed her to the employee lounge. Dick was already they're eating an apple. He and Artemis begin to chat amicably. When did they become friends?

Wally grabbed three pop tarts, a pear, and two apples from the employee's food supply to tide him over until breakfast. Artemis stared at him as he ate.

"What?" He asked.

"I thought we had breakfast on the starboard deck?" She asked.

"We do. This is my pre breakfast snack." Wally tells her as he quickly polishes off two out of his three packs of pop tarts.

"That is disgusting." Artemis states. Dick laughs as he finishes his apple and throws the core in the trash.

"Nobody asked you Blondie." Wally retorts. Before she could reply, Roy walked in, joining the three of them. Wally brightened when he spotted his friend.

"Hey Roy." Dick said smiling. Roy nodded at the two boys, but looked over at Artemis.

"I see you arrived in one piece, pity. I see you're still wearing that jacket, do you ever take it off? Or do you use it as a security blanket?" Roy states. Artemis rolls her eyes, only looking slightly more annoyed then before.

"Nice to see you too carrot."

"Don't call me that, Arty."

"Don't call me Arty."

"Wow, you two are practically siblings already." Dick says laughing. The two of them both glare at Dick as the others walk in, followed by Bruce, who was in charge of giving all of the teens their "missions" for the day. Wally quickly finished his last apple.

"I see you have all met Artemis already." Bruce begins. Everyone except Wally and Roy smiles over at her. "Roy, you have been given a permanent position in the archery range. You may leave now."

Wally watches in disbelief as Roy smiles and walks out of the lounge. Everyone looks equally shocked.

"Wait, Roy isn't working with the rest of us anymore?" Wally asked in disbelief.

"We don't need nine floaters." Bruce begins using the unofficial title for the work the teens did. "Roy is eighteen and old enough to have his own official position. Oliver, Roy, and I decided that this would be best for him with Artemis joining the crew."

Wally glared over at the new girl, her arms smugly crossed across her chest as she leaned against the wall. She was beautiful, which was even more frustrating. Wally seethed at the girl as Bruce continued to speak.

"You eight will be working this afternoon. Kaldur, Raquel, and Conner will working lifeguard duty, Megan and Zatanna will be waitressing lunch, Dick will be giving Hal and I a hand in the gadget room," Wally looked over at the boy genius, sixteen and he knew enough about electronics that he didn't have to bother with the menial labor, "And Wally and Artemis will be manning the towel station."

"WHAT?!" Wally proclaimed. All eyes turned to him. "I can't work with her! She's an annoying harpy and Roy's replacement."

For just a second, Wally thought he saw a look of hurt pass through the blonde girl's eyes. It was gone so quickly though, that Wally was sure he just imagined it.

"Wally, that is your assignment for the day. I expect you to be there at twelve. Until then you guys are meeting Ms. Lance for a short class. You are all dismissed to get breakfast." With that Bruce walked out, leaving the eight teens all alone.

Suddenly Artemis was pushing him up against the wall, holding his shirt. She had fire in her eyes and looked pissed.

"What the hell was that about Baywatch?" She practically shouted in annoyance.

"Just saying the truth, I don't want to work with Roy's replacement, because that is all you are." Wally said, knowing it wasn't true.

Artemis gave him one last glare before releasing him and walking away. His friends looked at him in confusion.

"What?" He asks them.

"That was not very nice my friend." Kaldur says. The others all nod.

"She started it!" Wally protests.

"Well then you should finish it." Raquel states. "I like Artemis, she's cool. You would like her too if you gave her the chance."

"She's Roy's replacement!" Wally says.

"Roy wanted to leave. We all know it, you do too." Zatanna says.

"I don't know about you guys, but I am hungry. Let's go get food." Dick finally says. They all nod and walk out, leaving Wally alone. He sighed, realizing that he may have made a mistake. He would apologize later. He quickly ran after his friends, his stomach growling.

Artemis wasn't interested in breakfast anymore. She walked right to the archery range, relying on her old friend. She walked in, grabbed a bow and a set of arrows and began firing at targets, alternating between picturing the targets as Wally's face or Roy's. She hit eight bull's eyes in a quick succession without even thinking.

"Nice shooting kid." Artemis spun around to see Ollie standing behind her, watching her shoot. "I wish I could take credit for your great aim like I can with Roy's."

"Hey!" Roy said, emerging from a small shed storing targets and spare bows and arrows. "I take offense at that Oliver."

"I'm just kidding." Oliver says, patting the boy on the back. Ollie was not oblivious to the glares passing between the two kids in front of him. "Alright, what is with the eye lasers guys?"

"He made me look bad." Artemis started.

"I said one thing to you Arty, grow up." Roy spat back.

"You were a jerk!"

"You're acting juvenile!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Want to know what I think?" Artemis starts, unconsciously aiming an arrow at Roy. Oliver realizes that now would be a good time to intervene.

"Guys, guys, settle down. Artemis, lower the bow." Oliver says. Artemis stares at the bow in her hand, before doing as Ollie said. "Good, now let's talk about this like a normal family."

"We're not a family Oliver." Roy states. "I'm going to go get breakfast, see you later _Arty_."

With that Roy walks out of the archery range. Oliver watched him go before turning back to Artemis.

"He's right Oliver, you can adopt me or whatever, but we aren't actually going to be a family of any sort." Artemis placed the bow on the rack before walking out as well.

Oliver watched her go, and sighed. He had known that this was going to be difficult, the girl had been through a lot, but he hadn't really anticipated this. Maybe this had been a bad idea.

Ollie quickly shook his head. In the past two years that he had known the girl, he had come to think of her as his daughter. She belonged here just as much as Roy. He was just going to have to find away to make it more apparent to her and everyone else, besides him and Dinah.

After returning the range to its pristine set up, Oliver walked out to meet Dinah for breakfast. Hopefully she would have some ideas.

**A/N: I hope Roy and Artemis sounded in character during this. I was having some trouble to make them sound like their characters. Review, I love hearing what you guys have to say. Next chapter will have some good Spitfire moments, I promise. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So I read over my last chapter, and Wally sounds like a bigger jerk. I am sorry everyone, I wasn't trying to make him sound that bad. Hopefully this next chapter will redeem him. Thank you for everyone's reviews, they are super awesome! I also know that i have been updating really quickly, but I am starting school again tomorrow, and I don't know how busy I will be getting. Hopefully not too much since I'm officially between sports seasons. We'll see. And as much as I would love to own Young Justice, I sadly do not. **

The Start of A Beautiful Friendship

Artemis considered skipping class. After the way her morning had started, she just wasn't feeling it. Artemis stomped around her room, ranting in her head about Roy, Wally, her dad, everything. She flopped onto her bed and blindly felt around for the drawer in her nightstand. When she found it, she pulled out the picture of her mom, Jade, and her.

The picture was from before her mom's accident. Her parents had been two of the best thieves in Gotham, Sports master and Huntress. Her mom, for the most part, had stopped after she and Jade were born, but her dad... her dad was determined to turn his daughters into miniature female versions of himself.

In the picture, Paula Crock was standing near a pond with little Artemis on her shoulders. The smaller version of herself was grinning giddily at the ducks in the pond, while her sister leaned over the pond, throwing little pieces of food at the ducks. All three of them seemed happy.

Artemis wasn't sure who had taken the picture, but it had rested in a black frame on a table in their apartment for years, until Artemis took it for herself after her mom was sent to jail and Jade left, leaving just her and her dad.

Smiling, Artemis put the picture away again. She looked at the clock on the wall, and realized that class was starting soon. She would go, if only for her mom who had always wanted better for her daughters. Artemis got off of the bed and walked out of her room without a second glance.

Wally looked up from where he had been talking to Dick and Raquel, as Artemis walked in. He felt really bad for how he had been acting around the blonde girl. Megan and Zatanna had reamed him at breakfast for his actions. He had realized what he was doing was wrong, but he hadn't stopped. He wasn't this person.

"Hey Artemis." Dick said when Artemis walked past. She gave a little wave as she took an empty seat next to Zatanna. The girl immediately struck up a conversation with Artemis. Wally turned back to his conversation with Dick and Raquel, but a few moments later her heard laughter. He looked back over at the two girls, and sure enough, Artemis was laughing.

"Your eyes are going to burn a hole through her if you keep staring." Dick said. Wally turned back around to his best friend.

"What are you talking about?" Wally asks, defensively. Raquel begins to laugh.

"You got it bad Wallace West." Raquel states, smiling as Kaldur walks in and takes a seat next to her.

"What does Wally have bad?" Kaldur asks good naturally.

"Nothing." Wally says at the same time Dick replies, "Wally likes Artemis."

"Ah, I had my suspicions, but I did not want to say anything." Kaldur says with a smile. Wally groans in frustration.

"You guys stink. I do not like the blonde harpy, that is final."

"Good, cause I don't like you either Baywatch." Artemis said with a smirk. Wally spun around to see that Zatanna and Artemis had made their way over to the group. Wally gulped; he just had the worst timing when it came to this girl.

"I...I...I..." Wally kept saying lamely.

"Spit it out Baywatch, you know we are all just enthralled to hear what you have to say." Artemis replies. Dick, Zatanna, and Raquel snicker into their hands.

"I didn't mean it like that, I'm sorry." Wally finally manages to say. Artemis looks surprised for a second, but then her normal facial expression returns.

"Thanks Wallman, but its not like I was sitting alone in my room crying because Wally West doesn't particularly like me, please. I'm a big girl." Artemis says snarkily. Wally guessed he deserved that.

"Whatever Harpy." Wally decides to just go with the simple response.

The door to the classroom opens suddenly, and Dinah Lance walks in. The teens all go to their seats. Dinah surveys the classroom.

"Where are Conner and Megan?" She asks. As if they knew that Dinah was looking for them, Conner and Megan walked into the room hand in hand. Megan was giggling and Conner was actually smiling. They stop suddenly when they notice everyone looking at them.

"I'm sorry we were late, we lost track of time." Megan states, turning red. She and Conner wordlessly take their seats.

"They were totally making out somewhere." Dick whispers over to Wally.

"You're just jealous that it was not you and Zatanna." Wally replies. Dick's cheeks turn bright red. Wally smiles to himself, served the little troll right.

Class was dismissed at ten thirty. Artemis watched as Zatanna and Megan quickly hurry off to change and then go help set up the dining hall for lunch. She knew that Ollie was going to drop off polo for her to wear when working. Ollie and Bruce had picked a simple white-sleeved polo as the uniform for workers. It said Justice on the right sleeve and on the left sleeve, it said their name. It was quite classy.

Artemis walked into her room to find the polo on her bed. She debated whether to place a long sleeve shirt on underneath. She knew she had a lot of scars and bruises from her training. Her dad never harmed her or Jade, but scars and other things came with the territory of the training they did. She had always been a bit self-conscious, but maybe it just wasn't worth it.

Deciding to ditch the long sleeve shirt, Artemis shrugged off her jacket and her white tank top, putting on the polo. Artemis redid her standard ponytail, and walked out of her room, locking the door behind her.

"What's up Artemis?" Raquel says. Artemis turns around to see Raquel walking out of her room.

"Hey Raquel." Artemis says smiling. Together, the two of them walk over to the elevator, where Conner is already waiting.

"Hey Con." Raquel says smiling at her friend.

"Raquel, Artemis." Conner says, with the straight face that Artemis had come to realize was his normal expression. The elevator doors opened at the three of them stepped inside. They all wore the same polo.

"Woah, how did you get that?" Raquel asks, staring at a jagged scar on Artemis' right arm.

"Boxing, I used to box." Artemis said, trying to sound cool and collected. It was a complete lie. She and Jade used to go to the little gym down the street sometimes to workout. Artemis had always liked using the punching bag.

"Ouch, looks like it hurt." Raquel states. Artemis shrugs.

"It happens." She replied. Satisfied, Raquel turns to Conner.

"So Con, what were you and Megan doing to make you guys late for class?" Raquel asks with a sly smile. Conner's face turned bright red as he tried to sputter out a response. Artemis and Raquel spent the rest of the elevator ride laughing hysterically.

Conner shot out of the elevator as soon as it reached the main level. Artemis and Raquel walked out a bit slower, still giggling.

"So where is this towel place?" Artemis asked Raquel.

"Not far. It's you know, near the pool."

"Of course. Where else would it be? Near the arcade?"

"I'm sure all of those nerds could use towels to wipe up their sweat." Raquel states. The two of them once again begin to laugh as they approached the pool and towel stand. Artemis spotted Wally already behind the counter with a bored expression on his face. Next to him was a smoothie machine.

"See you later Artemis. I have people to save and Conner's to embarrass." Raquel says as she walks away. Artemis waves bye and joins Wally.

"So we just hand out towels?" Artemis asks.

"Nope, people can grab their own. We are in charge of this." Wally pats the smoothie machine. "Meet Francis."

"Francis?" Artemis asks Wally skeptically. He shrugs.

"Megan and Raquel came up with it. Don't ask me why."

"So we make...smoothies?" Artemis asks.

"Pretty much. Some person up in the Watchtower thought it would be a good idea. Two things get accomplished, we watch over the towels and make people happy with smoothie goodness." Wally explains.

"Got it." Artemis says, pulling over a stool. She sits as far away from Wally as possible. The two of them are completely silent for a few minutes. It drove them both crazy though.

"It kind of looks like a Francis." Artemis remarks, staring at the machine.

"I guess you could say that. You know how to work one of these things?" Wally asks her.

"Yeah, I actually have one in my room to feed my smoothie obsession." Artemis says dryly. Wally cracks a small smile, trying to stop the bigger one that wanted to form.

"So all you need to do is make sure there is enough ice in this top compartment." Wally explains, pointing. "And then based on what they ask for, you add the fruit to the other top compartment. Press the button, and presto, you have a smoothie."

"Sounds easy enough."

"It's actually very difficult. Only the best rocket scientists can actually do it right." Wally states.

"Then how can you do it?"

"I'm awesome, and a rocket scientist in training."

"You? Really? I never could have guessed from the dorky periodic table shirt you were wearing last night."

"You know, you are just so funny, you should be a comedian."

"I'll make sure to make my jokes about annoying red heads." Artemis replies back. Wally was impressed; he had never met anyone like Artemis before. And Artemis would never admit it, but she was actually having...fun.

"I would expect half of the profit then. If you're making jokes at my expense, I should get some benefit."

"Maybe."

"You can call your show, the Blonde Harpy Who Thinks She is Funnier then She Really Is."

"That's a tad long, how about Baywatch: The Red-haired Walking Disaster." Artemis replies.

"Me? A walking disaster? You ran into me yesterday." Wally states.

"Me? That was all you Baywatch." Artemis replies.

A little girl asking for a strawberry smoothie interrupted them. Artemis handed her a towel while Wally made the smoothie. When she was gone, Artemis turned back to Wally.

"Wow, that was just so complex." She states.

"It takes a certain skill."

"For a boy named Baywatch, I bet it is quite challenging."

"Can we stop taking digs at my smartness. I am a highly intellectual being."

"One that says smartness?" Artemis states. Wally rolls his eyes.

"I couldn't think of anything better to say." Wally says. The two of them begin to laugh hysterically. Artemis realized that she was even smiling. Who knew that she and Wallace could get along? Once they were calmed down enough, Artemis started to talk again.

"So what brings you to this fine ship? You already know why I'm here." Artemis says.

"My uncle Barry is a scientist. He worked for a lab in Central City and knew Bruce and Ollie through his work. They contacted him and asked him to come out here with them. They had a lab built and everything and it would give hands on chance my uncle to study marine life while at sea. The past few years he has been studying the effects of global warming on the environment and this would give him great chance to study the effect on the oceans of the world and plants and animals and stuff." Wally explains. "All he had to do in reply was give some science lectures as an opportunity for something the older members on board could do."

"That's cool." Artemis states, "But that doesn't explain why you are here."

"Would you believe that I wanted to come along purely for the adventure?" Wally asks. Artemis shakes her head. Wally sighs. "I had some trouble at my old school with bullies. You know, the age-old gang up on the science nerd stereotype. They didn't bother me too much since I was also really good at track and they respected that, but they would still steal my homework and shove my face into lockers. I didn't have a lot of friends, and just really wasn't happy.

When I heard that my only real friends, Dick, Roy, and Kaldur were coming onto this ship with their guardians/parents, I realized that I wanted to come too and be with people who actually got me. My parents agreed since they had heard about the bullying, and two months later, here I am."

Artemis is quiet for a moment. She felt so bad for Wally. She had seen kids get bullied at Gotham North and had always been too scared to do anything about it. She always felt bad though when she saw their sad faces.

"I'm sorry that that happened to you Baywatch." She said quietly. Wally looked over at her in shock. She had lost the sarcastic barrier in her voice.

"It's fine. I'm here now and I have an awesome group of friends." Wally states. "They all really like you, even Conner. I've never seen the big guy warm up to somebody so easily. You belong with our little band of misfits now too."

"Really?" Artemis asks, looking over at him. Wally looked right in her grey eyes when he replied,

"Really." Wally replies, knowing that he was speaking the truth.

**A/N: Aw, I really love those two together. I know I kind of took some liberties with the characters this chapter and I hope they seemed realistic and stick with their characteristics on the show. Read and Review. I don't know when Chapter 5 will be put up, hopefully sometime this week. Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Wow, you guys are the best! I love seeing everyone's reviews; they are really motivating and just plain amazing. I'm sending everyone who reads this story, even if you don't review, a big virtual hug. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I didn't plan this one out beforehand as much as I did for the others, so I hope you guys still like it. Enjoy!:)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, but if I had a billion dollars then we would have to revisit the issue.**

Land Ho!

Over the next few days as the S.S. Justice chugged across the Atlantic, Artemis began to settle in among the crew. She found a place for herself in the tightly knit group who had welcomed her so quickly. She enjoyed pulling pranks with Raquel, Zatanna, and Dick. She liked the comfortable silence between her and Conner when they worked together. And despite having zero interest in clothes or really anything girly, she didn't mind it when Megan dragged her away for her opinion on one thing or another. She could always get advice from Kaldur whenever she was confused. She had even come to look forward to her daily exchange of persiflage** (A/N: I immediately thought of Wally and Artemis when I saw this word in my vocab book!)** with Wally.

In the short three days since the boat had left port and that she had been on the boat, she had begun to find her place. Every night she had dinner with Dinah and Ollie, and every morning she was in the "cave" (she learned that that was what they referred to the employee lounge as) waiting for Bruce's assignments for the day. She experienced waitressing, which was just as bad as everyone said. Luckily, Dick had snuck a packet of chili powder into her hand, which she may or may not have poured into the soup of a particularly annoying guest. Oops.

Artemis was alone in her room after dinner one evening, when she heard feet in the room above her, running to the door. They had sounded excited. Artemis got up off of her bed where she had been reading a book that Dinah was making them all read and moved to the small circular window in her room. She could see a thin strip of land quickly coming closer; they had reached the Straits of Gibraltar, and were now entering the Mediterranean.

A loud knocking suddenly reverberated throughout Artemis' room. She walked to the door and opened it to see Megan smiling giddily in her doorway.

"We've arrived!" She proclaims excitedly.

"Um...not really Megan." Artemis says.

"Well, yeah, my uncle John said that we are stopping at the island Corsica first and we won't be there until morning, but we've reached the Mediterranean. That is arriving in my book." Megan says quickly. She grabs Artemis' arm. "Come on, everyone else is already on deck."

Megan drags Artemis down the hallway into the elevator. Megan rambled excitedly about all the stops they were going to be making before heading back to the States. She had apparently heard of some great places that they all just needed to check out. Artemis couldn't help but smile; it was nice that Megan was so excited.

As the elevator rose, more people got in, all excited like Megan to reach land soon. The elevator reached the top deck and people spilled out of the elevator. Megan and Artemis weaved their way through the crowds of excited guests towards the Starboard deck where they met every night. Raquel stood at the railing, talking excitedly with Kaldur. The others all sat in a circle. Artemis could see their excited faces in the artificial light illuminating the giant boat.

"I always love when we arrive at a new port." Zatanna says excitedly as Megan and Artemis take seats in the circle of their friends. People rushed past them, cameras in their hands and around their necks to get pictures of the rapidly approaching coastline.

"Yeah, it's so exciting." Megan gushes. "Plus, we have tomorrow off and Uncle John said that we will reach the port in Corsica early tomorrow morning. That means we have a whole day to explore!"

"Where are we going this time? Please tell me you don't have anymore seedy parks for us to check out." Wally says laughing. Megan glares at him, prompting Conner to do the same.

"Seedy parks?" Artemis questions, confusion on her face.

"We stopped Belize last month. We were all working the afternoon, so that evening we went off ship to explore and Megan saw a sign for a park and thought it would be a cool place to check out since she had read about it in some tourist book." Zatanna starts.

"We ended walking into the middle of a fight ring, and then when we quickly retreated away from the fight, some creepy dude tried to sell us drugs and hit on Raquel." Dick finishes.

"Don't even mention that guy, he was beyond creepy. On a scale of 1 to ten, he would be a twenty." Raquel says, her and Kaldur rejoining the group.

"I said I was sorry! It said it was a park, and parks are generally quite innocent." Megan says.

"We know you didn't mean to Megs, we just like to tease you." Wally assures her with a smile. Artemis couldn't help but smile herself, picturing her new friends in such a seedy place, a place like where she grew up in Gotham.

Everyone seemed lost in thought for a few minutes. She was sure the others were all reminiscing on the event in question, but Artemis' mind was elsewhere. She pictured a hot summer day and little Artemis, a scrap on each knee and a band-aid on her forehead, jump roping on the cracked sidewalk while her mom sat on the steps of the apartment building. Artemis couldn't have been more then five at the time and she was a lot more innocent to everything bad in the world. She was laughing and her mom was smiling. That was until some guy came up the sidewalk. When her mom saw him coming, She immediately told little Artemis to go inside to see what Jade and her dad were doing. Artemis went without question; even then Artemis knew that her parents weren't the best citizens. It was so easy for something good and peaceful to become corrupt.

Wally woke up the next morning excited. They had had just passed through the Straits of Gibraltar last night when Wally had returned to his room to go to bed. When the sun shining through his small window, Wally couldn't help the stupid grin on his face. He loved the idea of all the cool things he had ahead of him for the day, so much better then waking up in Central City, dreading having to leave his house and go to school.

He dressed quickly in a yellow and red t-shirt, brown cargo shorts, and a worn pair of sneakers. He walked out of his room, and locked the door behind him. He looked up to see Artemis doing the same. He walked up over to her as she locked the door to room B-07.

"S'up Arty?" Wally says smiling.

"Don't call me that Wallace." Artemis says, not even turning around as she locks the door and walks down the hall to the elevator.

"Why do you hate that nickname anyway?" Wally asks. Artemis shrugs.

"I just don't like it. It reminds me of Roy." Artemis makes a face of disgust when thinking of the older boy.

"Wow, you really hate Roy." Wally says, hitting the up button on the elevator.

"What tipped you off? The disgusted look on my face every time he walks in the room or the arguments I get in with him every time he comes around?"

"Well..." He trails off, unsure exactly what to say. The elevator arrives and the doors open. Artemis steps inside and walks over to the keypad, typing in Artemis B-07 and watchtower. Wally walks over and does the same, only his says Wally B-03.

"You going up to the Watchtower as well?" Wally asks, changing the subject.

"Yep. Ollie is trying to be all dad like and set some "ground rules" for going off the boat." Artemis does little air quotes around ground rules. "Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if he makes all the stuff up on the spot."

"Well, you will definitely be needing these "ground rules" Mis." Wally says.

"I'm not a Mis." Artemis tells him.

"Alright, I'll stick with Blondie and Harpy." Wally says, smiling.

"And what makes you think that I need the "ground rules"? I think if anyone needs them, it'll be you Baywatch." Artemis tells him with a wry grin.

"Oh yeah?" Wally says as they arrive at the Watchtower and the elevator doors open.

"Yeah." Artemis smiles in reply, walking to Oliver's station. Wally smiles after her, before going over to see Barry.

Barry looks up from a bunch of paperwork. "Hey kid, what brings you up top?" Barry asks.

"Aren't I allowed to come visit my favorite uncle?" Wally asks bringing a smile to the older man's face. "And I lost my last communicator in Antigua and I figured you could get me a new one."

Barry shakes his head as he pushes out from behind the desk and walks with Wally over to a door and into the gadget room. This was one of Wally's favorite room's. There was so much technology all stored in this room. This was also where all the security cameras were monitored. Today's monitor was Arthur, Kaldur's mentor. Arthur nodded as the two of them walked in.

"So what exactly happened to your last communicator?" Barry asks as he leads Wally over to a rack of them. They were basically radios that the crew used to communicate amongst each other when they left the ship to go on land, whether to explore or leading a trip of tourists.

"Well funny story Uncle Barry. You see Dick bet me that I couldn't climb up to the top of this big pole along the dock. I proved him wrong, but my communicator fell out of my pocket on the climb up." Wally tells his uncle, who simply sighs and grabs a new one handing it to his nephew.

"Don't loose this one kid. This is your third one and we've only been on this boat for two months." Barry instructs.

"I won't. See you later Barry." Wally says, walking out of the Tech room. He spotted Artemis still talking over with Oliver. She was smiling widely and laughing with the older man. She looked lighter, happier. Wally liked it when she looked that way. It was almost like she was the sun. When she smiled, it made the people around her light up as well. Wally couldn't hold back a smile as he stepped into the elevator to meet Dick and Roy for breakfast.

"What the hell are you eating?" Artemis asks Wally, staring at his plate in disgust.

"It's Minestra, a traditional soup of Corsica." Wally explains.

"It looks like dirty socks floating in bathwater." Artemis informs him. Dick, who was sitting next to Artemis, nearly spits out the water he had been sipping. This causes Zatanna and Raquel to begin to laugh as well. Even Kaldur cracked a smile.

"You have no sense of culture. This is quite delicious." Wally says as he takes his spoon and slurps down some of the soup. Artemis gives him another disgusted look, before turning to the rice dish she had seen on the menu that had not sounded completely foreign. Everyone else but seemed to have stuck with more familiar looking and sounding food.

When they had finished lunch, the teens walked back out into the town Bastia, one of the main ports. They had walked a few feet down the street when they heard a muffled voice coming out of the pocket of Wally's shorts.

"Kid Flash, come in, Kid Flash." The voice crackled. Artemis looked confused as everyone stopped and Wally pulled out a communicator. Ollie had handed her one but had run off to deal with an emergency before he could explain it to her.

"This is Kid Flash, what's up?" Wally asks into the comm.

"Just checking in to where you guys have walked off too. Any guests around you?" The voice asks. Kaldur does a scan of the scene and shakes his head at Wally.

"We are still in Bastia by the harbor, no familiar looking tourists in sight." Wally replies.

"Alright Red Arrow is meeting up with you. Apparently there is a problem with some tourists a few streets away from the harbor. We need you guys to take a look." The voice says. Wally stores the comm. back in his pocket.

"You're called Kid Flash? What kind of codename is that?" Artemis asks him.

"My uncle is flash. It fitted." Wally says shrugging, glaring at her when she begins to laugh. "Shouldn't we be focusing on the bigger mission at hand?"

"Yeah. Bruce is sending me some coordinates from where the complainer said they were." Dick said, holding up his phone.

"Who's Red Arrow?" Artemis asks.

"Roy. Oliver is Green Arrow. You should be Yellow Arrow, since your hair is yellow and all." Megan says smiling. Artemis tried hard not to laugh at the suggestion.

"Thanks Megan, but I'm not really the codename type. I think I'll just stick with Artemis." She explains to her friends. "What are you guys' codenames?"

"I'm Rocket."

"The one and only Robin."

"I'm Miss Martian."

"Mine is just Zatanna."

"I go by Aqualad."

"Superboy."

Artemis listened as she took in all their names. After Conner had said his, she just nodded.

"I don't really understand the meaning to all your codenames, except for Zatanna and Aqualad, but I'm just going to go with it." Artemis says. Her new friends nodded.

"I have to coordinates. Now we just need Roy." Dick says.

"I'm sure Mr. Brooding is making his frowning face over here." Artemis states.

"Correction, his frowning face is right behind you." Roy said walking up behind Artemis. Artemis spun around to glare at Roy. "Nice to see you speak so highly of me, _Arty._"

Artemis glared at him, but before she could respond, Wally was speaking.

"Roy! We've missed you. You should come back." Wally says excitedly, much to Artemis' annoyance.

"Yes, if you are interested, we always have room for one more." Kaldur said with a smile. Artemis sighed as they all fawned over Roy.

"Are we going to go get some rambunctious tourists, or not?" Artemis finally asks. Everybody's eyes shift away from Roy to Artemis. "Well are we?"

"Yeah, let's go. " Conner says. The teens begin making their way towards the location. Dick explained to Artemis that they had had to do this before when some passenger on the ship, usually teenagers, got a little cocky or drunk and caused a public disturbance. Bruce usually heard about them and sent whoever was on land to go deal with them.

After that, Artemis had to listen to her friends preoccupy themselves with Roy. They all asked him questions about having an official position on the boat or just catching up. Artemis slowly began to drift backwards from the group. She fell five or six steps behind them all, feeling like the replacement that Wally had accused her of being. Conner joined her soon after though.

"No offense, but your adopted brother has always been a bit of a jerk." Conner says to Artemis.

"I'm not technically adopted, so he isn't really anything to me but a jerk either. Why don't you like him?" Artemis asks. Conner shrugs.

"He knew Kaldur, Dick, and Wally from before we got on the boat. He got along with Raquel and Zatanna easy enough but he was always really kind of dismissive of Megan and me. He just never acted like he could trust us. Megan got over it, and never let it affect her. Me, I just don't really like the guy that much." Conner says, saying the most that Artemis had ever heard him speak at one time.

"I know the feeling. I'm pretty sure he just thinks I hang around Ollie and Dinah because I want their money or something. He probably treats us both the same way." Artemis says. Both her and Conner then lapse into the usual easy silence between the two of them. They were both quiet until they came around the passengers in question.

Sure enough, there was a group of five teenage boys, obviously drunk, sitting on the side of the road, yelling at people as they walked past. Roy and Kaldur approached them first, while the rest of them waited back.

They could all tell that Kaldur was using his peaceful voice, but the boys would have nothing of it and began shooting obscenities at him. Roy then tried his tactic, but we couldn't actually hurt them unless they hurt us.

Artemis sighed. They were going to get nowhere. The sun had begun to dip below the skyline. A beautiful sunset framed the landscape, but instead of admiring it, Artemis was stuck trying to calm down a bunch of crazy passengers.

Artemis' training began to kick in. Something felt weird. She analyzed the five boys. They didn't seem like the type to be heavy drinkers or really do anything like this. They looked like the class president type of kids with their polo shorts and Bermuda shorts.

She took in the surroundings, noting that they were in a pretty wealthy district. They were actually sitting right in front of a jewelry store...

"STOP! THEIF!" The teens all turned to see a masked figure sprinting out of the jewelry store. It all clicked. The boys must have been paid off to be a distraction. Throw in some free booze, and you have a pretty damn good distraction.

"Artemis! Where are you going?" Roy shouted after her. She hadn't even realized it until she was sprinting away from her friends (and Roy) that she was running after the thief. She followed the figure down a small narrow alley. This theft, it was all meticulously well done. It was flawless. It was so much like...

"Jade! I know that that is you!" Artemis shouted when realization dawned on her. The figure wore a black ski mask, but she could practically see the smirk on her sister's face as they continued to race down the alley. The two of them suddenly came upon a tall wall. Jade stopped and stared up at the wall before turning around, laughing. She peeled off the mask, and her dark hair came tumbling out.

"You caught me, good job." Her sister laughed hysterically.

"What are you doing her Jade?" Artemis asked.

"Well I heard that the great Oliver Queen was taking his brand new cruise ship across the Atlantic. I figured that I might as well drop by and visit my baby sister." Jade says smiling.

"Wait, how did you know I was with Ollie? Nobody is supposed to know. Does...does...Dad know?" Artemis asks.

"Not at the moment. If you want to keep it that way and keep me from revealing your little secret to your friends out there, I suggest you let me go." Jade says. Artemis wordlessly steps aside, staring at the ground. "That's a good girl. I'll see you later darling."

Jade quickly disappears, her specialty. Artemis turns around and walks out of the alley, right into her friends.

"Where did she go? Did you find the thief?" Wally asks her.

"She...she got away." Artemis says. Her friends' excited faces all fall.

"Were you hurt?" Kaldur asks her. She shakes her head.

"So the thief didn't hurt you, but she got away." Roy says, spelling out the situation.

"That's what I said Carrot top." Artemis sneers.

"That's Bull." Roy says. The other's all raise their eyes in shock.

"Um Roy, don't you think that is a bit much? I mean I know you and Artemis don't always get along, but accusing her of letting a criminal go..." Dick trails off.

Artemis narrows her eyes at Roy. "She got away." Artemis says taking long pauses between each word for emphasis.

"And I say Bullshit. What, not getting enough money from Ollie and Dinah that you took some money to be quiet? We know she paid off the passengers and you two could have had some time to talk..." Roy trails off, letting everyone else fill in the blanks.

"You're sick. You just can't stand that Ollie and Dinah actually like me. You're like some selfish kid who doesn't want to share. You're pathetic and I'm going back to the boat." Artemis spins around and walks away from the group. Her back turned; the teens did not see the tear running down her cheek.

**A/N: Wow, that was a really long chapter. I kind of wrote this over to course of a few days, and I did not originally plan for this to turn out the way it did. I kind of like it though. I pulled elements from a few different episodes, mainly episode 6 and 23 from season 1. Hope you guys enjoyed. Chapter 6 will be coming soon and I promise Roy and Artemis will eventually get along...just not right now. Read and Review. Tell me what you thought of this chapter. Good, Bad, okay, let me know.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Is anyone else like seriously sad that there are only three more episodes of Young Justice left? It's so sad. Stupid Cartoon Network, you'll have a show about a talking orange but not keep a seriously awesome show like Young Justice? Really? Where is the reasoning in that?**

**Thanks for all the continued support of this story. I hope you all enjoy the upcoming chapters and this one. **

**Disclaimer: Young Justice belongs to Cartoon Network (what a shame...)**

Aftermath

Artemis looked up from her very in depth analysis of the ceiling when she heard a knock on the door. Artemis looked back up at the ceiling. She had been avoiding everyone since leaving Corsica three days ago. Out her small little window she saw Sicily, Italy, and Greece, but she never got off the boat to explore. She left her room to eat and work.

Megan had tried talking to her when they worked as waitresses together the day after Corsica, but had quickly released that Artemis was not really in the mood to talk about it. Everyone else caught on quickly. Artemis wasn't trying to be a bitch or anything, she just needed time to cool down. She was furious with Roy for saying those things to her, but she was also kind of annoyed with her friends for not saying anything.

Sure, they'd known Roy longer then her, but still. She had hoped that at least one of them would have stuck up for her when Roy insulted her. She banged her fist against the bed, just thinking about it, making her angry.

"Artemis, I know you are in there." Ollie's voice came through the door. "If you don't open the door in three seconds, I will just use my key to get in. Save me the trouble of having to look through my numerous pockets for the key when most likely I left it in the Watchtower."

Despite her crappy mood, Artemis had to smile. Oliver was the only person in this world who could always make her smile no matter what.

She got up and unlocked the door, and then walked back to her bed. Oliver walked in and pulled the chair out from behind her desk and sat on it, staring at her.

"What's wrong Artemis?" Ollie asks.

"Nothing's wrong." Artemis lies.

"I know you're lying kid. You've been moping around the boat since we left Corsica. Did something happen?" Ollie's face darkens. "Did someone hurt you? I will personally throw somebody overboard if I have too."

"No, no, nobody hurt me Ollie. I just...you heard about the robbery?" Artemis asks.

"Yeah. I sent the teenagers back on a plane to the states personally." Oliver says.

"Well I chased after the thief when we saw..." Artemis was cut off by Oliver.

"You chased after a thief? Artemis, what were you thinking? She could have been armed. You could have been hurt!" Oliver exclaims.

"Ollie, it was Jade." Artemis says simply.

"Oh." Oliver says, temporarily dumbstruck. "Only Jade?"

"Yeah, dear old dad is still locked up and has no clue that I'm staying with you. But, I talked with Jade. I was going to bring her in Ollie, I swear! I had her cornered but then she threatened to get in contact with dad and to tell everyone about me." Artemis says quietly. They were both silent for a few minutes. Oliver got up off of the chair and took a seat besides Artemis on the bed.

"This is usually Dinah's expertise, but I'm going to try my best kid." Oliver starts. "First off, I don't blame you and I doubt anyone would for letting Jade go. Besides the fact that she is your family, your dad can not know you are here. It would harm you more then some silly stolen jewels will harm the jeweler if your dad knew. Second, I know you are keeping something else from me."

"It's Roy. He accused me of being paid off by the thief and that I am only hanging on to you and Dinah because you guys are rich." Artemis confesses, feeling good to get it off her chest.

"Artemis, people will always be talking. You can't let that affect you." Oliver wisely tells her. "Now, do you want me to have a talk with Roy?"

"No! Don't do that. Ollie, that would be humiliating." Artemis tells him.

"Fine, just this once because your my favorite almost daughter." Oliver says with a smile. A small smile graces Artemis' face as well. Oliver gets up and kisses the teenage girl on the forehead. "Whatever bad blood is between you and Roy, you two need to work out. Dinah and I can only do so much. If you need to talk to either of us, we are always there for you Artemis. We aren't like your other family."

Artemis simply nodded and watch Oliver walk out of the room. He was dead on with his last statement. Her father would have called her weak or dumb for ever letting something like that affect her. She hadn't seen her sister since she was nine and she walked out on them. Her mom would have tried to comfort her, but the truth is, her mom isn't exactly the comforting type. She smiled. She was lucky to have Oliver and Dinah. Roy could believe what he wanted to believe, but she needed them for something so much greater then money. She needed them because they made her feel whole. They made her feel worth it.

Tired of being in her room, Artemis stepped out of her room and walked down the hall to the elevator, riding up to the main level. She was pretty sure that most of the passengers were currently at Zatanna's father's magic show in the performance hall on the floor below, leaving her one of the few people on the main deck.

She walked out onto the main deck, staring up at the stars above. She sat back in a lounge chair and located the few constellations she knew, and then the ones that she had made up when she was younger. She had always loved to sit out on the fire escape outside her window and squint up into the sky, trying to locate stars in the sky despite the brightly lit city of Gotham.

"Whatcha looking at Blondie?" A voice she had come to associate with impeding annoyance said from besides her.

"What do you think Kid Idiot? What could I possibly be looking up at in the sky?" Artemis said, her voice sounding a bit more bitter then she was trying to sound.

"Just trying to start a conversation harpy. Geesh, when did you get so defensive?" Wally asks, taking a seat in the lounge chair besides her.

"Sorry." Artemis said quietly, looking away from the sky out to sea.

"Did, I just hear that correct? Did Artemis Crock just apologize?" Wally asks in mock shock.

"Shut up Baywatch before I make you." Artemis says, smiling in the darkness.

"I would like to see you try Blondie. I'm too quick for you." Wally smirks.

"Someday we'll just have to test that."

"Someday we definitely will."

The two teens were smiling at each other, but neither could really see in the darkness.

"Look Artemis, about Corsica..." Wally started.

"Can we not talk about it? It's done, whatever, I'm over it now." Artemis says quickly, cutting him off.

"You sure? I mean, you've been avoiding all of us? And you barely said two words to Zatanna or I today on lifeguard duty."

"I'm certain Baywatch."

"Okay...so do you know any constellations?" Wally asks, looking up at the sky.

"As a matter of fact, I know tons. You see that star right there." Wally followed Artemis' pointed finger.

"Yeah."

"Well that, along with the three next to it form Eagle."

"Eagle? I've never heard of that one before." Wally asks confused.

"That's because I made it up when I was seven."

"Really? I thought you actually knew constellations."

"I only know the big dipper."

"Everyone knows the big dipper." Wally proclaims.

"Whatever Baywatch." Artemis replies. "You see that one over there, that is Star."

"You named a star, star?"

"Well the five of them together look like a star."

"I don't see it."

"That's because you have no creativity."

"I have tons."

"No way."

The two teens continued to talk and argue well into the night. Neither of them noticed when a skinny boy with black hair took a picture of the two of them from behind a corner. A dark haired girl stood besides him trying not to giggle. The two of them quickly ran into the lobby area.

"Think they noticed?" Zatanna asked.

"No way, they were totally feeling the aster." Dick replies.  
"Aster?" Zatanna questions.

"I came up with it today, it means the opposite of disaster." Dick explains. Zatanna gives him a weird look for a second, before shrugging.

"Whatever boy wonder. Come on, let's go print out the picture. I'm sure it'll come in handy sometime in the future." Zatanna grabs the boy wonder's hand and pulls him towards the elevator, not noticing the redness slowly spreading across the boy's face.

Wally was in the middle with shoveling down his second helping of breakfast, when Artemis approached the table.

"Artemis!" Megan proclaimed standing up and hugging the other girl. "I've missed you."

"Hey Megan. I haven't really gone anywhere." Artemis says. Wally could tell she was uncomfortable with being hugged.

"I know, but you've been very distant my friend." Kaldur says. Artemis looked over at him and then the rest of them.

"Yeah, about that, I'm sorry guys for moping around for the past few days."

"We owe you an apology too, girl." Raquel states.

"Yeah, you're our friend too. We shouldn't have let Roy say those things to you." Dick says.

"Forgive us?" Zatanna finishes, smiling widely.

"Course I do." Artemis says, smiling widely as well. She takes a seat in between Conner and Zatanna, still smiling. Wally was pretty sure she had never seen her smile so much at one time.

"Guess where we are going next?" Megan says to them.

"Where?" Conner asks, even though they all knew it wasn't nessacary. They all knew Megan was seconds away from blurting it out.

"Cyprus! It is going to be so cool." Megan squeals excitedly.

"Totally." Wally replies, before commencing to shovel more food into his mouth.

**A/N: So this chapter is a little shorter. What do you guys think? Was it to mushy? I really wanted a quality Oliver and Artemis moment and you can never have enough Spitfire. Next chapter will also be longer. I also wanted to have this done before tomorrow's new episode. I'm thinking about adding some of the characters from the season 2 team as well. Tell me in a review what people you guys want to see and I'll do my best to work them into the story somehow. Thanks for reading. I'll hopefully have to next chapter up sometime tomorrow or Sunday. **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hello! I hope everyone is well. Thank you for the kind reviews. Send me a PM or just write in a review any other characters you guys would like to see in this story. I already have an idea for an appearance by Barbara in an upcoming chapter. If you have anyone else you want, let me know. **

**I'm also really sorry. I was distracted last night when I finished chapter six and I completely forgot to read it over and do spell check before posting, so I'm sorry for any spelling and grammar errors.**

**I just saw the latest episode, super great! I miss Wally though! I mean it's been like nine episodes since he's been in the show. I need my Wallman... *sigh***

**That is all. **

**Disclaimer: As much as I would like, I do not own Young Justice. **

Truth or Dare

Later that afternoon they reached Cyprus. Wally had watched from behind the towel counter with Raquel as they came into port. Raquel handed out a smoothie to a very hot passenger and watched him walk away.

"Why can't any of you guys look like him?" Raquel asks.

"I take offense at that Raquel, I am very hot." Wally states, puffing out his chest. Raquel looks over at him.

"Whatever makes you feel better Wallman." Raquel tells him, patting him on the shoulder.

"Not all of us can be almost body builders like Kaldur." Wally teases her, laughing when her cheeks redden. "I knew it."

Raquel grabs the front of his shirt, and pulls him down. "If you tell anyone Wally, I will sneak into your room and cut off your balls in the middle of the night."

Wally gulped. Raquel could be scary when she wanted too. "I won't, but it's kind of obvious to everyone but Kaldur."

"You suck." Raquel states, releasing the red head.

"As long as I can keep all my body parts intact, I am okay with that." Wally tells her with a smile. Raquel laughs. Wally makes a smoothie for a chubby little boy and one for his mom while Raquel hands them towels. When they were gone, Raquel turns to Wally.

"So you and Artemis? What is going on there?" Raquel asks, laughing at the shocked expression on Wally's face.

"Me and the blonde harpy? No way." Wally states.

"Why not? She's really nice, funny, and she puts you in your place. I got to say, I'm a fan of the girl." Raquel tells him.

"Then you can date her." Wally states.

"I'm going to pretend you did not say that Kid Death Wish. Artemis is my friend." Raquel informs him. "Here comes Artemis now."

Wally looks in the direction that Raquel was facing, and sure enough, Artemis was approaching, wearing the standard polo and shorts. Her polo was covered in grease stains and other substances.

"Just get out of kitchen duty?" Raquel asks as Artemis leans against the counter. She nods her head, and accepts the smoothie Raquel offered her, gulping it down in one sip.

"I'm getting a brain freeze just watching you drink that all in one sip." Wally states.

"Don't watch then Baywatch." Artemis says, throwing the plastic cup away into the small trashcan behind the counter.

"Where is Kaldur?" Raquel asks ignoring the look Wally was giving her. "Wasn't he working the kitchen today as well?"

"He went back to his room to shower and change." Artemis states. "I'm on my way down there as well. See you later Raquel, kid doofus."

Wally watches Artemis go, trying not to stare at her butt. He turned around when he heard Raquel laughing.

"You have it bad my friend, real bad." Raquel proclaims.

After changing out of her dirty work uniform and into a clean blue shirt, jean shorts, and flip flops that she was pretty sure belonged to Zatanna but had ended up in her closet somehow, Artemis took her dirty clothes up into the employee laundry room. It was just her luck that Roy would be there.

She walked in without a word, afraid that if she talked, it would consist mostly of her fist in his face. She walked over to a washing machine and dumped her dirty clothes in, and then went to grab the detergent, which was unfortunately in Roy's hands.

"I need to detergent carrot top." Artemis states.

Not looking up, Roy replied, "What's the magic word Arty?"

"Please." She said.

"When I am done." Roy said, meticulously and agonizingly slowly pouring detergent into the washing machine.

"I've seen little old ladies do their laundry faster then you." Artemis proclaims.

"Good for them." Roy replies.

"You suck."

"You're an attention, money seeking bitch. I don't trust you, and if you hurt Oliver, Dinah, or my friends, there will be hell to be paid." Roy tells her, placing the detergent on an empty machine. Artemis didn't realize what she was doing until her hand was slapping him across the face. He looked at her, shocked. She grabbed the detergent, rushed over to her own machine, and quickly poured some in. She started the machine, and walked out without another word to Roy.

Artemis joined her friends on the starboard deck. Everyone was dressed in normal clothes, or civvies as they liked to call them, ready to get out and explore Cyprus. She put a plastered fake smile on her face, determined to not let Roy's words dampen her fun night ahead. The slap had helped a little though.

"You ready for the most Asterous night ever?" Dick asks Artemis, falling in step with her as they walked down the gangplank.

"Aster, the opposite of disaster." Zatanna calls out from the front of the group where she was chatting with Kaldur and Raquel.

"Thank you Zatanna." Dick says with a grin.

"No problem, boy wonder." Zatanna replies, winking, and returning to her conversation with Kaldur and Raquel.

"Dog." Wally says elbowing his friend. Artemis simply rolls her eyes as their group makes their way along the dock towards the town.

"So what do you guys do when you go on land? Besides catch wayward passengers." Artemis asks.

"Oh you are in for a treat." Dick says, rubbing his hands together, cackling.

"Well usually we eat first so the guy with a black hole for a stomach won't complain the whole time." Raquel says.

"Hey, I take offense at that."

"You're taking offense at a lot of things today." Raquel tells him, smiling.

"Well after we eat, we either, shop, explore, or play truth or dare." Megan explains.

"Truth or dare?" Artemis asks.

"Mostly just dare." Conner clarifies.

"Yeah. We usually find some place and then dare people to do really extreme stuff." Raquel finishes.

"Bermuda." Dick simply states and they all begin to laugh, except for Wally who glared at all of them and Artemis who just looked confused.

"Dick dared Wally to run down a street in Bermuda in only his boxers. He got halfway down the street when a police officer spotted him and he chased him around the town for about an hour." Zatanna explains.

"It was hilarious. I don't think I can ever top that." Dick states.

"I say we do that tonight, I am in the mood for some payback." Wally says as the group exited the docks and headed towards downtown.

"Are you sure that is wise?" Kaldur asks. "Wally was almost arrested last time."

"Kaldur, it's harmless. Live a little." Raquel tells him, smiling. Kaldur's cheeks turn red.

"I guess it is okay." Kaldur finally decides.

"Now that that is cleared up, let's eat. I'm starving!" Wally proclaims.

"That's a surprise." Artemis retorts.

After dinner, in which Wally almost ate all the food in the restaurant, the group found a nice beach and all sat around in a circle. Artemis stared up in the sky for a quick moment, and spotted Eagle. For a second, it reassured her. She was half a world away from Gotham, but yet the sky was still the same. She smiled. Artemis looked back at her group of friends.

"So who goes first?" Artemis asked.

"I do." Wally states. "Since I had the worst dare last time, I get to ask first. Dick, truth or dare?"

"Truth. I'm actually scared about what you would make me do." Dick confesses. Wally sighs, annoyed.

"Is it true that Bruce is thinking of adopting again?" Wally asked. Everyone looked over curious. Artemis had not heard anything on the topic, and from everyone else's faces, they had clearly not heard anything about it either. Of course Wally would though, him and Dick were thick as thieves.

Dick shrugged. "He's considering. I've only heard him mention it once myself."

"You've hacked into his computers recently though, I presume." Wally says.

"You know me too well." Dick replies. "I didn't see anything really, just a name, Jason Todd. I don't really know anything though. This was a pretty bad question."

"I already know everything bro. I couldn't really think of anything else." Wally replies shrugging.

"Okay, my turn to ask." Dick says, looking like a little troll. He eyed the group, as they all groaned.

"You just had to ask him Wally." Conner says shaking his head.

"Dick always comes up with the best questions. It's pure torture." Raquel whispers in explanation to Artemis. She nodded and looked away from Raquel to see Dick staring right at her, a mischievous grin on his face. Great.

"Artemis, truth or dare?" Dick asked. Artemis weighed the options in her head. On one hand, she did not want to do dare and end up running down the street in her underwear like Wally, but if she picked truth, she might have to reveal something that she really didn't want to reveal.

"Dare." Artemis answers. Everyone looked at her with pity, clearly expecting something horrible, but hilarious, to happen to her. Dick cackled lightly.

"I know exactly what I'm going to make you do Blondie." Dick states.

"I've done a lot Dick, do your worst." Artemis replies, meeting his challenging look.

"Call Oliver and tell him you are pregnant." Dick says. Everyone is silent for a moment.

"You want me to do what?" Artemis asks.

"You sure this is a good idea Dick?" Kaldur asks.

"You scared Arty?" Dick asks, ignoring Kaldur. Everyone else watched with morbid curiosity.

"No. I'm scared what he'd do to the pretend father." Artemis states.

"Oh yeah, that. You also have to say that Wally is the father."

"What? Dude!" Wally sputters out. "You want Oliver Queen to kill me?"

"Do you accept or not Artemis?" Dick asks her. For her response, Artemis pulls out her cell phone.

"Artemis, you don't need to do this." Megan says, nervously staring at the phone.

"Yeah, this isn't a really good idea." Conner says.

"I never back down from a dare." Artemis says, pressing the first number on her speed dial. Oliver had programmed it that way when he gave her the phone.

"I'm dead." Wally says, lying down in the sand. Artemis puts the phone on speaker. Oliver picked up after a few rings.

"Hey Artemis, everything alright?" Oliver asked her.

"Hey Ollie, I have something to tell you." Artemis begins. "I'm pregnant."

"WHAT? WHAT THE HELL? WHO THE HELL AM I MURDERING TONIGHT?" Oliver shouted into the phone. Everyone tried not to laugh as Wally's face paled. He punched Dick in the shoulder and mouthed, "I hate you."

"Wally. The father is Wally." Artemis says, trying not to laugh herself. She had to admit, this was pretty funny.

"I AM GOING TO KILL THAT KID!" Oliver shouted angrily. In the background, they could all hear Dinah asking what is wrong. When he explained it to her, she began to laugh.

"This isn't funny Dinah, our almost, somewhat daughter, is pregnant!" Oliver proclaims. Megan was biting her hand to keep from laughing and Raquel and Conner had had to walk away because they were laughing so hard. Even Kaldur was trying hard not to laugh.

"Oliver, Wally and Artemis can barely be alone in a room together. I doubt they slept together. I'm pretty sure this is a joke." Dinah says to him.

"Artemis." Oliver simply says.

"Sorry Ollie, Dick dared me to tell you that. Don't murder kid idiot." Artemis says, laughing.

"I though Roy was a handful. You just nearly gave me a heart attack kid."

"Sorry Ollie. I'll see you and Dinah for breakfast tomorrow."

"Bye Artemis." Dinah said. "I'll try to calm Oliver down by then."

"Bye!" Artemis said, shutting her phone. Everyone burst out laughing at that moment. They were all nearly rolling in the sand, except for Wally.

"Guys, Oliver was going to freaking murder me! This is not funny!" Of course, that only made them laugh harder. "Haha, laugh at the expense of the guy who was going to be killed."

Once they had all sat up, dusted the sand off of them, and calmed themselves, they continued with their game. Artemis dared Zatanna to jump in the ocean, who then dared Conner to start singing Justin Beiber, and it went on like that for hours.

"Guys, it's almost midnight, shouldn't we be getting back to the ship? Our guardians will be worried." Kaldur states.

"Sure, but we still have time for me to ask my last one. Please Kal?" Megan begs.

"Fine." Kaldur says.

"Alright, Artemis, you haven't gone in a while, truth or dare?" Megan asks.

"Dare." Artemis replies, without hesitation.

"Answer a truth." Megan says.

"Can you do that?" Artemis asks nervously.

"Yes she can. You haven't done truth the whole night. Usually everyone has to do at least one. " Dick tells her. Artemis sighs.

"Fine." Artemis says, her mind going into overdrive. What was she going to ask? What if she had to reveal something? Could she lie? Would they know if she lied? What should her lie be? Her parents were...Her mind drew a blank. She knew she couldn't think up a good enough lie on such short notice.

"...We are all really interested." Megan finishes. Artemis looks over at her confused. Megan had been talking that whole time?

"Well?" Zatanna asks her.

"Um...could you repeat?" Artemis asks.

"Sure. Have you ever had a boyfriend? Zatanna and I were wondering the other day and we are really interested." Megan tells her. Artemis breathes a mental sigh of relief. She could answer this one.

"Yes, I have had a boyfriend." Artemis tells them. There, she answered the question.

"Not a good enough answer." Dick chirps up.

"What? How is that not good enough?" Artemis inquires.

"Artemis, we are your friends. We need to hear all the juicy details." Raquel states.

"Not all the details, if you don't feel comfortable." Kaldur quickly adds. Raquel rolls her eyes, but doesn't disagree.

"Um...where do you want me to start?" Artemis asks them cautiously.

"What is his name? How'd you meet? When did you break up? Are you still dating? What was he like? Are you still in contact?" Megan says, giving some suggestions. She probably would have said more if Conner hadn't pulled her into his lap, temporarily distracting her.

"Um...his name is Cameron. We met when we were children since his dad and my dad did some...business together. He lived in Star City and when my family moved to Gotham, we lost contact. When I moved back we met again, and started hanging out. We began dating when we were fourteen, and broke up six months ago. He wanted me to do things that I didn't want to, and then I found out he cheated on me." Artemis tells them.

"I'm sorry Artemis." Megan says.

"It's no big deal, I'm over it now." Artemis reassures her.

"Well, I believe now is a good time to head back to the boat." Kaldur says, getting up. He, Conner, and Megan walk away, followed by Zatanna, Dick, and Raquel. Wally and Artemis were the stragglers in the back of the pack.

"Artemis." Wally begins, a concerned expression on his face.

"Yeah Baywatch?"

"I'm happy you broke up with him. I mean, I know I never met him, but if he was trying to make you have sex or something..." Wally trails off and looks over at Artemis.

"It's nice that your concerned Baywatch, but that wasn't what he wanted me to do." Artemis explains.

"It wasn't?" Wally asks.

"No. He was a troublemaker and wanted me to get involved in his schemes. I didn't want too." Artemis explains.

"Oh. That's good." Wally says relieved. He begins to walk away to talk to Dick, but Artemis puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Before you go Wally, thank you." Artemis says.

"For what?"

"Being concerned about me. It's...sweet." Artemis tells him with a smile. Wally smiles at her too. They both realize that they had stopped and followed a ways behind the rest of the group. Wally gives her a sly grin.

"Don't get used to it Harpy." Wally tells her as the quickly hurry to catch up with the rest.

"Wouldn't dream of it Baywatch."

Later that night, Artemis laid in her bed staring at her ceiling. She had a goofy grin on her face. Despite Roy's hurtful words, this day had turned out pretty good. Tomorrow, they were beginning their journey back to the states. They were to be separated for two weeks, before coming back together for their next trip. She was excited. This place was quickly becoming her home and the people her family.

**A/N: What did you guys think? Review! What did you think of my mention of Jason Todd? Do you guys want him to join the little group? Tell me what you think? I'll try having the next chapter up sometime between today and Tuesday.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: As always, I would like to start this by thanking everyone for the wonderful reviews. They make me really happy and keep me going when I get a writer's block. I am always up for characters you guys' want added into the story or suggestions you have. Barbara Gordon will most likely be making an appearance in the next episode and Jason Todd will be in like six chapters. I have a slight outline in my head about how I want this to go, but it's not very specific, so for the most part I am writing this as I go along. Read and Review. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice, and sadly never will. (Most Likely)**

The Things That Go On in The Middle of the Atlantic

It took them a day and a half to cross the Mediterranean and exit back out through the Straits of Gibraltar, taking them back to Miami, where they would dock and all go their separate ways for two weeks. Artemis was excited and not excited to go back to the States. Oliver was taking her to visit her mom, which was exciting. She hadn't visited her mom in a while and she missed her. But, she was staying with Oliver, which meant she was staying with Roy. Oliver had a big house, but it wasn't going to be big enough for her to avoid Roy completely for two weeks.

Artemis relaxed in the lounge chair, sunbathing with Zatanna. The two of them had been given the day off, and they were enjoying it.

"Wally!" Artemis shouted out, sitting up in the chair and lifting the sunglasses up onto the top of her head. Zatanna does the same. "Smoothies!"

"You could say please." Wally replies. Conner snickers quietly besides him.

"Why would I do a thing like that?" Artemis asked sweetly. Conner and Zatanna both laugh.

"I am so getting back at you tomorrow when I have my day off." Wally says, making a smoothie for both her and Zatanna. He brings them over.

"Anything else?" He asks them.

"I could go for a foot massage." Zatanna says.

"Why don't you ask Dick, I'm sure he would love too." Wally says, with a devious grin. Zatanna's cheeks turn bright red and she quickly lowers her sunglasses and sinks down in her chair.

"They got it so bad for each other." Wally whispers.

"Totally." Artemis whispers in reply.

"So, you need anything else? For real?" Wally asks.

"No, I'm good Wallman." Artemis says. He walks away and joins Conner back behind the counter.

"So Artemis." Zatanna says.

"So Zee." Artemis says in reply, lowering her sunglasses and staring out at the sea as they continued to chug across the Atlantic Ocean. People walked past on their way to various activities throughout the ship. She heard snippets of people talking about an archery lesson with Roy. That sucks for them.

"What are you doing on our weeks off? After that we will be stuck on this boat for three months." Zatanna says.

"I'm going to be hanging out with Oliver and Dinah in Star, and avoiding Roy." Artemis says.

"He's not that bad." Zatanna says.

"He's a first class jerk Zee."

"You just need to get to know him more."

"I've known him longer then you."

"Okay. I just hate when you guys fight." Zatanna states.

"Sorry Zee, it's just going to happen with us." Artemis says. "Subject change! What are you doing?"

"My dad and I are going to be staying with my grandparents. It's going to be the anniversary of my mom's death so we are going to bring flowers to her grave." Zatanna says sadly.

"I'm sorry Zee." Artemis says.

"It's fine. She died when I was really young, I barely even remember her. It's hardest on my dad. He really loved her." Zatanna says. Artemis just nods. She wouldn't know what true love looked like if it walked up to her wearing a shirt and a neon sign saying, "I'm true love."

"That sounds...hard." Artemis says dumbly.

"Yeah, but my dad always says that he wouldn't give up a single day that they spent together to lessen the hurt even a little bit."

"That's...amazing."

"I know." Both girls quietly stare out to sea lost in thought.

Artemis remembered the one time her family had actually acted like a family. It was after a good heist. Her dad had gotten a lot of money and had gone out and bought the really expensive necklace for her mom, a limited edition of Alice in Wonderland for six year old Jade, and a teddy bear for little Artemis, the same one probably still sitting on her bed in their empty family apartment. Anyways, they all went out to dinner afterwards at this Vietnamese restaurant and it had been really...normal. She hadn't realized until meeting Oliver and Dinah, just how much she had missed out. She could have had tons of moments like that, but she didn't.

The next day, true to his word, Wally found as many ways as possible to torture Artemis, who was working as a waitress. He, Dick, and Kaldur had the day off and were sitting around a round table in the dining hall, staring at a menu. As employees, they got free meals, but were still encouraged to leave tips.

"What do you guys want?" Artemis asked, approaching them, scowling. Somebody was not having a good day. Perfect.

"I would like to start with an appetizer." Wally starts, speaking really quickly. "I want nachos without the chili but extra guacamole and cheese. I also want light sour cream, not the regular fattening kind. I'm trying to loose a pound or two. Oh, and could you get the chef, is it Augustus today? Anyway, tell him that I would like the really hot sauce on it. Did you get all of that?" He looks over at Artemis scrawling on the notepad.

"Yeah I did." Artemis says, scowling. "You two want anything?"

They quickly shake their head when they realize that Artemis was on the warpath. When she had walked...err Stomped away.

"You just love waking the beast in her don't you?" Dick says, shaking his head.

"Two words Grayson pay back." Wally states.

"I do not see this ending well." Kaldur says to Dick.

"Me neither, buddy, me neither." Dick says, eyeing Wally across the table.

Wally annoyed Artemis to no end through the whole lunch. He made her get several water refills, ordered a complex meal and dessert, to name a few things. Wally knew by the end though, that Mt. Artemis was seconds away from exploding. So when she asked them if they needed anything else, he said no and left a fifteen-dollar tip, feeling bad. Kaldur, Dick, and Wally walked out to the pool where Raquel was the lifeguard of the day.

"What's up guys?" She asks.

"Wally here may have just made himself a dead man." Dick says.

"What did you do West?" Raquel asks.

"Nothing." Wally said at the same time Kaldur responded, "He annoyed Artemis when she was already in a bad mood."

"Dude, you are kid death wish." Raquel states, looking out to the pool. She sighs and blows the whistle in her mouth. "YO, you two break it up." She shouts at a pair of two kids fighting in the pool.

"We'll leave you to the lifeguarding, but I bet Kaldur will keep you company." Dick states, pushing Kaldur towards the lifeguard chair.

"I would love that." Raquel says, smiling. Kaldur gives Dick a look but is quickly being pulled up onto the lifeguard chair with Raquel. Dick and Wally quickly retreat away from the pool.

"You troll." Wally says, shaking his head.

"Whatever, those two totally have it for each other." Dick states.

"One of these days somebody is going to troll you and you'll know how it feels."

"Someday is not today Wallman."

"It'll be your funeral." Wally says.

The two boys walk along the deck passing passengers, no real destination. They talk and often laugh and are soon joined by Roy.

"Hey Roy." Wally says, excitedly. "What's up? How's the archery range? Where've you been?"

"I've been around, the range is fine." Roy replies curtly. "I was just going to get some lunch."

"Um...I would suggest avoiding the dining hall." Dick states.

"Why?" Roy asks, confused.

"Wally may or may not have ticked Artemis off and you being there might just make her go Kaboom." Dick tells him.

"Whatever. I'm hungry." Roy shrugs.

"Why don't you like her?" Wally asked out of the blue. "I mean she is super aggravating, and annoying, and always has to be right, but she isn't that bad."

"I don't trust her. There is something fishy about her, always has been." Roy replies.

"Have you ever considered that your being paranoid or that you're just not used to sharing Ollie and Dinah?" Dick questions.

"It's not that. There is something seriously weird about her. I thought you guys were my friends."

"We are your friends." Wally quickly says.

"Well then you guys need to keep an eye out on her. Tell me if there is anything suspicious about her." Roy says. Wally looks at the ground uneasily and Dick looks annoyed.

"Sorry Roy. Artemis is cool. If being friends with you means betraying her privacy, then I guess you'll have to find some new friends." Dick turns around. "You coming Wally?"

"I'll catch up with you in a bit." Wally says. Dick gives him a weird look, but quickly walks away. "Why do you think something is weird about her?"

"If they are in the middle of talking about her, they'll stop the second I enter the room. She's always very secretive about her comings and goings, and she has a few too many secrets for my liking." Roy explains.

"If I help you, will you stop bothering her so much? She's really nice and doesn't really deserve you being a jerk to her." Wally states.

"You like her." Roy responds.

"I do not. I just like making sure everyone is treated equally." Wally says in reply.

"Whatever Wally." Roy says walking away towards the dining hall.

"Hey, you never agreed to my terms!" Wally shouted out after him.

"Sure Wally." Roy shouts back, not even turning around. Wally sighed; this was the right thing, right? Roy had been his friend for a long time. He couldn't walk away from his friend like Dick. But yet, Artemis was his friend now too. When did all of this get so confusing?

Artemis was lying on her bed, reading a book for Dinah's class when she heard the knock. She put down the book on her nightstand, next to the picture of her with Ollie and Dinah and opened the door.

"What are you doing here Wallman?" Artemis asked, more confused then annoyed. She opened the door a little wider for him to come in. He stepped in and looked around her room.

"Why, you take the whole living free of entanglements to a whole new level." Wally announced taking a look around the sparsely decorated room. "The only thing that tells me that someone lives here is your backpack, poster, and picture. That's pretty sad."

"Why are you here Wally? Or did you just come to comment on my choice of decorating?" Artemis asked, still slightly annoyed at him from lunch.

"I needed a quiet place to read." Wally held up the same book Artemis had been reading a moment ago. "Conner's room is right next to mine and he and Megan are watching a movie together. It was really loud and I couldn't concentrate."

Artemis sighed. "The desk chair is all yours Baywatch." Artemis flops back down on her bed, picking up her book.

"Alice in Wonderland, I see you have a bit of an obsession." Wally notes pulling out a chair and sitting down. His eyes travel from the book on her desk to the poster on the wall her bed was alongside.

"The poster and book were my sisters." Artemis simply replies before she can stop herself. Idiot.

"You have a sister?" Wally asked surprised.

"Yeah." She said lamely.

"Does Oliver know her?" Artemis shook her head.

"She was a lot older then me and moved out when I was young." Artemis says, hoping that he believed it. Wally just nods.

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"Well two things. One I was a bit of a jerk at lunch." Wally starts. "And second, I'm sorry that you miss your sister."

"What makes you think I miss her?" Artemis questions.

"Why else would you keep the book and poster?" Wally says. Artemis just nods, and begins to read, Wally does the same. Artemis couldn't believe that Baywatch was the one to open her eyes to the fact that she missed her sister. She spent so much time pretending that she didn't resist and blaming her for everything that she didn't even stop to realize just how much she missed Jade. She missed the way she used to braid her hair and comfort her when mom and dad got in a fight. She always put band-aids on her cuts after training and always tried to stick up for her. When Jade ran away, she lost her best friend.

A small tear escaped, but Artemis quickly wiped it away, hoping Wally didn't notice. Of course, when is she ever that lucky?

"Artemis, are you crying?" Wally asked, sounding like he was in shock.

"No." Artemis replies, stuffing both of her hands in front of her eyes.

"You are." Wally says in amazement. Once he gets over the realization, he speaks again. "I'm sorry for making you bring up your sister."

"It's fine. I just... miss her sometimes." Artemis says.

"Anyone would. I bet you could call her or something." Wally offers. He sounded like he really wanted to help. Artemis wiped away the last of the tears. It had only been a few, but still, even a few tears were weakness in her eyes. Her dad's too.

"Yeah. I'll do that when we get back to the States." Artemis says half-heartedly. Wally seemed happy with the answer and they both go back to reading in silence.

**A/N: So this chapter was not the most intense. It was just kind of a filler. I hope you liked it though! Review and give me your thoughts. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have chapter nine (nine!) up. Until then, enjoy life:)**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: You guys are awesome! I love all your reviews, thank you so much! This chapter is going to be pretty much everyone arriving home and then next chapter will be them all meeting up again. Also, I looked up Icon's name on Wiki since I had no clue and it said his alias is August Freeman. I didn't know that, and if anyone else didn't, well now you do:)**

**Without further ado, Chapter nine!**

Home Sweet Home

"Attention passengers, we have just pulled into the port of Miami. On behalf of your crew aboard the S.S. Justice, we would like to welcome all of you back home to the States and next time you are looking for an idea for a vacation, call us first. Thank you, and welcome home." Clark Kent, the captain of the ship announced. Artemis finished putting her clothes in her backpack and walked out of her room, deciding to leave the rest of her things in her room since she was going to be back in two weeks.

Artemis joined Dick outside of the elevator. He had a small duffel bag hanging off his shoulder. He gave her his usual crooked smile when he saw her.

"You excited to be heading home Mis'?" Dick asked her.

"I guess. What about you?" Artemis asked.

"Yeah. I'm going to be able to see some of my old friends, which will be nice. You visiting any of your friends?" Dick asks with a grin.

"Um...no. Never really liked any of them." Artemis says with a shrug.

"Oh...that's to bad. I'm sorry." Dick says with a sympathetic look and pats her on the shoulder. Artemis rolls her and shoves off his hand. The elevator doors open and they step in.

"I'm fine with just Ollie and Dinah. And now I got you guys." Artemis says shrugging.

"Yeah, you do." Dick says, bumping his shoulder against hers.

"So...when are you and Zee going on your first date?" Artemis asks, smiling. Dick splutters, causing Artemis to laugh.

"What are you talking about?" Dick asks.

"I'm just joking, but you should have seen your face." Artemis states, laughing. "I wish I took a picture, we would totally laugh about it someday."

Dick scowls at Artemis as the elevator doors open and they step out.

"See you later Boy Wonder." Artemis says as she goes off in search of Oliver and Dinah.

**********************Kaldur***********************

Kaldur couldn't help but smile as Arthur and him stepped off of the boat. A small crowd of people and gathered at the dock to see the return of the ambassador of Atlantis and Kaldur'ahm, his star student.

A blur ran past Kaldur and it wasn't until the woman's arms were wrapped around Arthur's neck that he recognized Mera, his wife. Kaldur smiled and walked off to join his two best friends.

"Kaldur!" Tula said, hugging the boy. Garth smiled and he and Kaldur hugged as well.

"My friends, I have missed you." Kaldur said, smiling widely.

"We've missed you too Kal." Garth says. The three of them walk away from the dock.

"Tell me all about the world?" Tula asks. Atlantis was a small island off of the Georgia coast. People rarely ever left or came to the island, but a few months ago Bruce Wayne visited. He and Arthur immediately hit it off and when Bruce and Oliver started the cruise ship, Arthur was one of the first people Bruce offered a job to. Arthur took it to have the chance to see the world and promote the small island of Atlantis. Already tourism rates had gone up and more wealth was coming into the tiny island.

Kaldur was an orphan on the island, never knowing his parents. Mera was his teacher and she introduced Kaldur to Arthur. The two of them viewed him as a son and Arthur had offered to take Kaldur with him when he went to the ship. Kaldur had accepted, excited to see something other then the beautiful island he had grown up on.

Kaldur told his friends about the Roman ruins he had seen in Italy with Raquel and Conner. He told them about the truth or dare call Artemis had to make on the beach in Turkey. He talked about the amazing rainforest in Costa Rica and the beautiful beaches in Bermuda. He talked for so long that he barely even noticed when they approached the orphanage Kaldur had lived at since he was little.

"Wow, that sounds amazing Kal." Tula says, absentmindedly reaching for Garth's hand. They quickly pull them away though, but Kaldur was perceptive, and noticed it immediately.

Trying to betray no emotion he asked, "Are you two together?"

"I'm sorry Kaldur, but you've been gone for a while and your leaving again soon." Tula starts, staring at the ground.

"I'm sorry too Kaldur, we should have told you." Garth says sheepishly.

"It's okay. I wish nothing but happiness for my two best friends." Garth and Tula smile. "I think I am going to go to Arthur and Mera's now. Arthur said I could stay with him. I'll see you two tomorrow?"

"You will. Night Kaldur." Tula says, kissing his cheek. Kaldur watched the two of them walk off, hand in hand, and sighed. He had really liked Tula and he had thought that maybe there was something there. Now he knew there wasn't. He sighed again and walked to Arthur's. As much as he loved Atlantis, he was ready to be back on the S.S. Justice.

********************Raquel*************************

Raquel looked out of the speeding train, taking her and Augustus across the United States to Dakota City. Raquel watched the landscape change outside of their train car. Bruce had generously bought them their train tickets, giving them each their own cabin. She heard the door slide open and Augustus walk in.

"You excited to be heading home Raquel?" He asked her, taking a seat across from her. "I'm sure your parents will be happy to see you."

"I'll be happy to see them." Raquel simply replies, still staring out the window.

"But you are not looking forward to seeing other people." Augustus states. Raquel spins around in her seat. Augustus shrugs. "I used to be a lawyer before a chef. I got used to reading people."

"Yeah, there are some people I don't really want to see. I don't want to be the bad kid from Paris Island again, the one who broke into your house." Raquel states, pulling her knees up to her chin. Augustus reaches across the space between them and pats her on the back.

"You're a good kid Raquel. I saw it then and I still see it now." Augustus tells her. Raquel gives him a small smile. "I'm going to go back to my cabin. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Night Augustus."

"Good night Raquel."

The next morning was bland and gray day when Augustus and Raquel stepped into the train station in Dakota City. Very few people were getting on or off the train. The two of them made their way out of the station. A taxi was waiting at the curb for Augustus. The man turned to the teenage girl besides him.

"Do you want a ride Raquel?" He asks her.

"No thanks. I just have a few blocks to walk." She says. He nods.

"Alright. I'll meet you here in ten days, even though I suspect I will see you before then." The man flashes one of his few smiles at his young friend.

"You probably will. Bye Augustus." Raquel turns away and begins walking towards Paris Island, the most crime-ridden neighborhood in Dakota City. She looked at the familiar landscape around her. It was home, and yet not home at the same time.

"Yo watch out!" A voice shouted out to her. Raquel was able to step out of the way just in time as a kid on a skateboard went flying past, clearly out of control. He crashed into a trashcan.

Four other kids skateboard past her to go see their fallen comrade. One of them stops though and Raquel recognizes him immediately. She smiles, he was not one of them people she had been dreading to see.

"Raquel Ervin." Virgil Hawkins says with a smile. "Where have you been?"

"Around. What about you? You disappeared a few weeks before I did." Raquel asks him.

"My parents sent me to a boarding school out east. They thought it would help with my "issues." Virgil uses air quotes and the two of them both begin to laugh. "That's how I met these four losers." Virgil points to the other teens that were helping their friend up out of the trashcan.

"Do they have "issues" too?" Raquel asks. Virgil shrugs.

"Depends on who you ask. The two with the headbands are Tye and Asami. Tye is from El Paso and Asami is from Japan. Then there is Eduardo from Argentina and the guy in the trash can is Roy Arsenal from Star City." Virgil points to all of them. "Since I'm the only one on good terms with my parents, they're staying here with me for the next two weeks of our vacation."

"Cool. I'm here for two weeks too." Raquel tells him.

"Awesome. Hey, you want to hang with us? We were heading to the ice cream shop." Virgil asks.

"You know I always love my ice cream." Raquel states.

"Awesome, let's go." Virgil says. With one of her oldest friends, Raquel realized that Dakota was beginning to feel a little bit more like home again.

*******************Conner***********************

Conner kept his arms crossed across his chest, staring out the window the whole drive from Miami to Smallville. Neither him nor his "dad" had anything to say to each other. Conner knew that Clark never wanted a son but somehow got stuck with Conner. At least the rest of his family on the farm was nice.

As Clark maneuvered the car into the driveway, the Kents walked out. They quickly embraced Clark and then moved to hugging Conner. Conner couldn't help but smiled when they hugged him. They may not be related to him biologically, but he looked to them as his real family a lot more then Clark.

Jonathan and Martha immediately began asking the two of them questions all about their adventures on the high sea. Conner left Clark to tell them the stories and walked up to his room.

This was the room Jonathan and Martha had given him when Clark had first showed up with Conner in tow to tell his adoptive parents about his apparent son. Conner still remembered the disbelief in Clark's eyes when he had showed up at Clark's apartment with the documents. To think he had wasted his childhood searching for him, a man who didn't even really want him.

Conner dropped his duffel bag on the floor and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He was happy now that Martha had assisted on getting him one before they left so that he could send her pictures. Now he could use it to be having a conversation with Megan, Wally, and Artemis all at the same time. He looked at the screen seeing a new message from Megan. He smiled, picturing his beautiful girlfriend.

_How is it? _Megan asked.

_Happy to see Martha and Jonathan, and happy to finally be out of a confined space with Clark._

_ Come on, I doubt its as bad as you think._

_ Do you know Clark?  
He's very nice._

_ To everyone but me._

_ That is true. I'm sorry Conner._

_ It's not your fault._

Conner looked up from the screen of his phone to see Martha.

"So how was it?" She asked, sitting besides Conner on the bed. She looked at the screen of Conner's phone. Zatanna had changed the picture from the boring standard background to a picture of the eight of them all making goofy faces at the camera. "I see you made some friends."

"I did. But they're not just my friends, they're my family." Conner states. Martha smiles.

"I'm happy for you Con." She said smiling. "Now wash up for dinner young man."

************************Megan************************

Megan and her Uncle John got out of the taxi that had driven them from the airport to John's apartment. They were going to freshen up from the long plane ride here before going to Megan's family's house.

Megan finished her conversation with Conner and stepped into the shower. Once she was dry, she threw on a beaded t-shirt she had bought in Puerto Rico and a simple blue skirt. She slipped on some ballet flats and then repacked her stuff. She couldn't wait to see her four sisters and six brothers again. (**A/N: I know in the show she has 12 sisters and 17 brothers, but that is a little high for an Earth family.)** She had gotten them each a gift on her travels and she couldn't wait to see their smiles when they received their gifts.

"Megan! Are you ready?" Her uncle John shouted down the hall to his guest room that she used often.

"Coming Uncle John!" She shouts, throwing the towel on a hook to dry and rushing out of the room, her rolling suitcase right behind her.

"I have a cab waiting to take us to my sister's house." John says.

"Good. I'm sure mom will be happy to see you too." Megan tells him, smiling. She kisses her uncle on the cheek and rushes out the door. John follows behind her at a more leisurely pace.

"Do you think my parents will be really mad at me?" Megan asks her uncle as they sit in the backseat of the cab taking them across town to her family's home. "I mean, I kind of joined you on the ship without their permission."

"They've told me that they are fine with last time I talked to your mother." John replies. "You've been talking to them too right?"

"Yes! Hello, what kind of daughter would I be if I didn't call them every night?" Megan asks, smiling. "Plus, I've sent Lizzie a picture of every place we've been like she asked."

"Technology, what a wonderful thing." John says, shaking his head.

"It is an amazing thing." Megan said smiling. She looked down at the picture Dick had sent her of him and his Gotham friend.

_Hello from the crime-ridden city of Gotham. _

Megan smiled, missing the black haired boy as well as the rest of her friends. She took a picture of the Chicago skyline from her seat in the cab.

_Hello from Chicago, not the most crime-ridden city in the country_

***********************Dick************************

"You suck. I hate you. You went to Greece and you didn't take any pictures for me?" Barbara asked him accusingly.

"Sorry Babs. I got distracted." Dick admits.

"With what?" Barbara asks. The two of them were sitting in their favorite restaurant, the one they would eat and do homework at almost everyday after school freshman year.

"Um...I don't remember." Dick says. The truth was that he had been distracted by the smell of Zatanna's hair that had pretty much drove him crazy the whole time they were on land. He hadn't been able to even think straight, let alone remember to take a picture for his best friend.

"You totally do, don't lie to me Dick Grayson." Barbara states, picking at the Caesar salad in front of her. Realization dawns on Barbara's face. "You met a girl." Dick shakes his head quickly. "You totally did. Tell me her name squirt."

"Don't call me squirt. I'm taller then you now." Dick says.

"Freshman year you weren't pipsqueak. Spill. Now." Barbara demands, stabbing a piece of lettuce with her fork.

"Her name's Zatanna." Dick finally admits.

"Ohhh...Exotic." Barbara says with a smile. "How did she end up on Bruce's ship?"

"Her dad is a magician. He does shows every other night on the ship and then lends a hand around the ship." Dick tells her.

"Is she pretty? Funny? Would I approve of her?" Barbara asks.

"Yes she is pretty and funny and I don't know, I would hope so since you're one of my oldest friends along with Wally, Roy, and Kaldur." Dick says, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"That I am. Speaking of the three stooges, how are the other guys?" Barbara asks.

"Wally is the same old same old, Kaldur too. Roy..." Dick trails off.

"What did Mr. Teen Angst do?" Barbara asks.

"He's just been really moody lately, and he keeps lashing out at this new girl on the ship." Dick tells her.

"New girl?"

"Her name's Artemis. Oliver and Dinah took her in. Everyone is really tight lipped about her. Even Bruce won't tell me anything."

"Is she nice?"

"Yeah."

"Then what is Roy's problem?"

"He claims that he doesn't trust her. He basically gave Wally and I an ultimatum to choose between the two of them." Dick explains to her.

"He didn't." Barbara says in disbelief.

"He did."

"That jerk."

"I don't know what to think of him anymore. Enough of me, what have I missed?" Dick asks.

"Well Bette keeps making me go on all these blind dates with her." Barbara tells him.

"No way."

"Yes way."

"I want to hear all about this."

"Why would I tell you? It would just come back to haunt me, troll." Barbara replies.

"Please Babs? Pretty please?" Dick begs. Barbara smiles.

"God, I've missed you around here boy wonder. Okay, I'll tell you."

The two teens stay in the booth at the cafe for hours, talking and laughing, just two best friends, reunited again.

**************************Zatanna*****************************

Zatanna clutched the flowers in her hands tightly. So tightly, she was sure she was crushing them. Besides her, she could see tears dripping off of her father's face. That was always the saddest thing. She never really knew her mom, but it always pains her to see her father in so much pain. She gently places the flowers on the grave and walks away, giving her father some alone time.

She wiped a tear out of her eye. The graves stones were all aligned in perfect rows. She studied some of the names, realizing that they all had people like her and her father who missed them. She wiped away another tear. The phone in her pocket buzzed. She pulled it out and looked at the message from Dick on the screen.

_I'm sorry that today is a pretty disastrous day. Try to stay traught. We're all here for you._

Zatanna laughed as she swatted at another tear running down her face. She knew her mother, wherever she was, was looking out for her. She may not have the perfect family with a mom and a dad, but she had a dad and a great group of friends. That was the next best thing.

***********************Wally*********************************

"Wally, Wally, when are you going to race me?" Wally's annoying thirteen-year-old Cousin Bart asked him for the tenth time since he had walked through the door. His first excuse had been that he wanted to visit with his parents, Aunt Iris, and Jay and Joan. The next was that he was hungry. But he was slowly running out of excuses. Lucky for him, Iris interceded at that moment.

"Bart, why don't you go hang out with Jaime or Cassie or someone? I bet Logan is back from visiting his grandparents. I need to have my Wally time now." Iris said to her son, ushering him towards the door. Bart was soon running out the door to join his friends. Iris turned to her favorite nephew. "Sorry about Bart, he's just excited to see his older cousin again."

"It's no problem Aunt Iris." Wally says smiling as his aunt sits next to him on the couch. The both stare up at the track meet on the TV.

"I will never truly understand yours, Barry's, and Bart's fascination with this sport. Its just people running." Iris states.

"It's very entertaining." Wally weakly replies.

Iris laughs. "Just don't tell Barry."

"Just don't tell Barry what?" Barry asks coming in from the kitchen with a bag of Doritos.

Iris sighed. "You've been home for less then twenty four hours and you've already found the secret chip stash."

"I know all your secrets." Barry says, pulling his wife up off of the couch and pulling her close.

"And that is my cue to leave." Wally says standing up.

"Your mom and Joan are making lunch and Jay and your dad are outback." Iris tells him, before looking back at Barry.

Wally walks away, smiling. He knew it was hard on his aunt to have Barry away for the past three months. She Iris and Bart had spent two weeks with them a month ago, but it was still a challenge.

He walked into the kitchen and went right to where he knew Bart had a secret stash of chips. He pulled out a can of Pringles but was quickly admonished by his mom.

"Wallace West. We are eating in fifteen minutes. I'm sure you can hold out until then." Mary admonishes.

"But mom, I'm starving." Wally complains. Joan laughs.

"You sound just like Barry not even five minutes ago." She says laughing.

"He is my uncle." Wally states, but he puts away the can.

******************************Artemis**************************

"You sure you'll be alright in there?" Ollie asks concerned.

"I'll be fine Ollie. I miss my mom, and I really want to see her." Artemis assures him. "And if anything goes wrong, there will be police officers right outside of the door."

"Alright, but I'll be waiting right out here when you come out." Oliver tells her. Artemis rolls her eyes.

"Okay Ollie." She turns to walk down the long hallway, but Oliver pulls her back to give her a quick hug.

"She's lucky to have such an amazing daughter." he whispers to her.

"Thanks Ollie." Artemis replies with a watery smile. She turned away and followed the officer down the hallway. Her mom had been on her best behavior so she earned some time to spend with family members in an interrogation room, rather then the long room with the wall between them.

Artemis hadn't seen her mother since she was twelve, before she was moved from Gotham to Star. But she sent her mom letters everyday, and now Oliver had taken her back to see her mom for the first time. She tried hard not to cry.

The officer led her into the room. He told her some stuff about how they were being monitored and some basic rules, but Artemis wasn't listening. She was staring at the door, waiting for her mother to be pushed in.

The officer walked out and a minute later her mom was rolled in, already teary eyed. She looked the same as she remembered, brown eyes, brown hair, same features. She rushed over to her mom, hugging her, tears rolling down her eyes. Her mom was crying too.

"My baby girl. My little Artemis."

**A/N: Wow, that was way longer then I originally intended. I hope you all liked the snippets into each of their lives, as well as all the appearances of other characters. Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH! The last episode, OH THE SPITFIRE FEELS! It was beyond awesome and Wally and Artemis... THEY ARE BACK TOGETHER! I was literally freaking out the whole episode. Why does next week have to be the last? Why! Stupid Cartoon Network. Gosh, I am going to miss this show so much. To all of us YJ fans, next week will be hard, but we will survive. **

**Okay so that was my little rant, just had to include it after this morning's episode. I'm just so...Okay, on with the story. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. **

The Belle of the Ball Part 1

Somehow they had managed to do it, Artemis and Roy had managed to avoid each other almost the whole time that they were at Oliver's mansion in Star. The only time they ever really saw each other was at Oliver and Dinah's mandatory family dinner every night. They managed to be pleasant to each other for half an hour each day.

Artemis was sitting in the kitchen, helping Dinah finish her seating chart. Tomorrow they were having a big party at the local Ritz to raise money for the Star City Orphanage. Dinah had been made a chairperson of the foundation.

"Okay, so I am assuming you want to sit with your friends, right? Not Ollie and I and all the other old people? Or your old friends?" Dinah asks.

"What old friends?" Dinah gives her a look. "Okay, just sit me with my friends from the boat."

"Okay. So there are eight of you and eight at a table, perfect. Hmm...where to put Roy?" Dinah stared at the chart, just like she had for the past three months.

"Dinah, you need to chill." Artemis tells her.

"You're sounding like Oliver. You two need to stop spending so much time together, he's a bad influence." Dinah says with a smile. The two of them had been in the archery range together everyday.

"Changing the subject, do I have to wear something nice to this thing?" Artemis asked, ripping a small piece of paper into even smaller pieces and stacked them on top of each other.

"Of course. I got you several dress options two days ago when I was at the mall. You can look them over, they're in mine and Ollie's room." She tells her.

"So, how am I helping you again?" Artemis asks, knocking over her paper tower. She looked over at Dinah furiously scribbling at the sheet of paper.

"Can you make sure that all the guests rooms are clean?" Dinah asks.

"Of course I can." Artemis tells her, getting up off of her seat. Artemis walks out of the kitchen to leave Dinah alone to her planning.

Oliver had decided that he wanted to invite the staff of the boat to the party, meaning that a good majority of them will be staying here with them and the rest will be in hotel rooms supplied by Ollie for the rest. All her friends were staying at Ollie and Dinah's with her and Roy. It was going to be interesting.

Oliver Queen had just gotten back from going over the final touches with the staff for the party, when Roy instantly approached him.

"Hey sport, what's up?" He asked.

"Why were you and Artemis in Gotham?" Roy asks. Oliver should have seen this coming, Roy was a smart kid and when he wanted to find something out, he never gave up.

"She is from there." Oliver states, hanging up his jacket in the coat closet. He hoped that that threw the boy off the scent a little bit. No luck.

"Seriously Ollie? I don't trust her. I think she is just using Dinah and you." Roy tells him. Oliver looked at the boy in shock.

"I can't believe you just said that. Artemis is a wonderful girl and if you stopped being an ass, you two would get along very nicely. You are my son, and I look at Artemis as my daughter. Dinah and I both know that she would never do anything like that."

"Don't you get it?" Roy asks angrily as the two of them move through the house. "We don't even know her! This is playing into her ploys! This is..."

Oliver interrupts him there. "Roy, I will not have anymore of this. Dinah and I know Artemis and we know that she is not faking anything, you need to drop this."

"If you two both know then why can't I?" Roy shouts. "You keep talking about the four of us being a "family" but how can I treat her like a sister if I don't know anything about her."

"It is not my place to tell." Oliver replies quietly, seeing his girlfriend watching from the doorway of the kitchen.

"Why the hell isn't it?" Roy asks in annoyance. He had spotted Dinah too, but had chosen to continue. They were both in the front hall and neither of them had noticed Artemis watching the affair from the behind the safety of the banister on the second floor.

"You really want to know the truth Roy? You just can't respect me at all unless you know all my deep dark secrets?" Artemis asks in a low voice. All three sets of eyes turn up to her. "Fine, here is your truth. We were in Gotham visiting my mom, who is in a wheelchair in prison because of my dad. My dad is Sportsmaster, the famous Gotham thief. When I was nine, he left my mom alone after she fell out of a second story window while trying to escape. My sister, she left soon after that, leaving me to get the blame.

One night when I was twelve, my dad's insults were so loud that a neighbor overheard and called the police. My father ran, not wanting to be taken in, and I was sent into social services. Three months later, my dad tried to take me away again since he didn't want to loose his prized trainee, like he lost Jade. The police found me though and sent me to Star, where I met Dinah. Two months ago my dad tried convincing me to run away with him, I turned him over to the police. Now I have to constantly be worrying about whether he is going to come after me for what I did.

So there is your truth Roy. Happy now?"

Artemis spun away and ran towards her bedroom, the other three all standing silently in place. Oliver and Dinah both knew the full story, but it hurt them to see how much pain she was in. Roy just stood, stuck in place, feeling like the world's biggest jerk.

"I'm going to go talk to her, party be damned." Dinah states, going up the stairs and towards her room. Oliver and Roy could both here her murmuring quietly at the door, trying to get Artemis to open up.

"I...I didn't know." Roy says.

"No, you didn't. Artemis didn't want anyone to know, so don't go telling everyone else, okay?" Oliver simply says. Roy nods his head, before disappearing to another part of the house.

Artemis was furious, with Roy, but mainly herself. She was furious for being ashamed of herself, which she was. She didn't want to be Artemis Crock anymore, it was a reminder of a little girl cowering under a blanket while her father called her stupid and useless and told her nobody would ever love her. She wanted to be, Artemis Queen who was loved by Dinah and Oliver. She had friends. She could cry, and not be called weak. She laughed often and even smiled.

"Artemis, will you please open the door." Dinah asks quietly.

"No." She replied, sniffling.

"Artemis, I'm really sorry you had to do that." Dinah says softly. Artemis doesn't reply. "Artemis please, we need to talk about this."

"I don't want to talk." Artemis says. "Dinah, I really just want to be alone."

Dinah sighs heavily. "Okay Artemis, people will be arriving shortly, but you don't have to do anything you don't want too. If you don't want to go tomorrow night, that is okay. Oliver and I love you no matter what, okay? Just remember that." Dinah tells her. Artemis nods, even though Dinah couldn't see it. She lies down on her bed when she hears the sound of feet walking away from her room.

An hour later, Artemis heard the doorbell ring; their first houseguests had arrived. She knew that Raquel and Megan weren't coming until tomorrow, but Zatanna was spending the night. Yesterday, Dinah had brought in an extra mattress and had rested it on the floor of her room.

Artemis eyed herself in the mirror, her eyes were slightly reddish and her hair was a mess. She rubbed her eyes and redid her ponytail, hoping she looked presentable enough. She also threw on a nicer t-shirt that Dinah had insisted that they buy for her when she took her shopping a week ago. It was just a simple sweater, but it looked great with her skin color and blonde hair. She examined her jeans, no stains, thank god. There she looked presentable, nothing like the daughter of Sportsmaster.

She stepped downstairs into the main hall to see that the first guests to arrive were none other then Barry and Wally. She walked down the left staircase and joined the group. Roy was nowhere to be seen, thank god. Oliver and Dinah both tried to hide their surprised looks at seeing her, but Oliver put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to his side when she approached.

"Hey Blondie, miss me?" Wally asks with his usual grin. Artemis manages an eye roll.

"I missed you about as much as I missed chicken pox after I had them." She replies. They both grin at each other and the adults exchange looks. Dinah and Oliver both look clearly relieved that Artemis was acting normal.

"Well, we'll leave the two of you here. Barry, why don't Oliver and I show you two your room. Artemis, can you take Wally to his?" Dinah asks. Oliver looks like he is about to protest, but stops when Dinah gives him a look.

"Sure." Artemis says. "Come along Baywatch." Wally picks up his bag and follows Artemis up the stairs. They go right and the adults disappear.

"Is it true that I'm sharing a room with Conner?" Wally asks.

"Yep."

"Darn it, he snores sometimes."

"For your sake, you better hope this is one of the times he doesn't." Artemis replies. They stop in front of a room with Wally and Conner written on a sticky note. "Here you go Wallman. Any questions?"

"Yes, where is the kitchen?" Wally asks. Artemis rolls her eyes; she should have seen this coming.

"On the ground floor Baywatch. There is a doorway to it to the right in the main hall. Dinah stocked it up this morning especially for you and Barry."

"Dinah is the best." Wally proclaims. They were both standing awkwardly outside the door.

"Uh, I should let you rest. You must have had to wake up early to get your flight here." Artemis says awkwardly.

"Yeah, hey, we should all hang out later. You, me, Dick, Conner, Zatanna, and Roy."

"Roy?"

"You know, your sort of brother." Wally tells her. "He's kind of hard to forget."

"Yeah, I was just confused for a moment." Artemis says, forcing a smile. "I'm going to go to my room. See you later Baywatch."

"Hey!" Wally shouted after her when she was halfway down the hallway. "You never gave me an answer!"

"Sure Wally." She replied.

"And then she pushed me into a snow bank!" Dick exclaims. Everyone begins to laugh, except for Artemis who was staring thoughtfully at her ice cream. "God, the weather here is so much better then out east."

"Artemis are you alright?" Zatanna asks her. She looked up at her friends. Roy had ended up not being able to go because he was hanging out with some of his Star friends. She looked around at the others all sitting on the grassy field in the park near Oliver's.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" She asks.

"Um...because you have been staring very intently at your ice cream for the past fifteen minutes." Zatanna says.

"If you don't want it, I'll take it." Wally offers. Artemis glares at him.

"My ice cream Baywatch, back off." She tells him. Artemis turns to Zatanna. "I'm fine Zee, how were your grandparents?"

"They were great." Zatanna tells them, "But I can't wait to get back on the ship."

"Agreed." Conner says.

"Things not go that great with Clark big guy?" Dick asks, patting Conner on the shoulder.

"Let's just say, it might as well have been just me and the Kents on the farm. He disappeared sometime in the morning and never showed back up to dinnertime. He was ignoring me." Conner says sadly.

"It's okay Conner." Zatanna tells him comfortingly. The others all say something of the same, except Artemis. In the last few rays of the sun, she could just make out a familiar figure to her left. She stared at the boy and his friends, this was bad.

"Artemis, you're doing it again." Zatanna says.

"Yeah, what's up Mis?" Dick asks her.

"I...I need to use the bathroom." She says, getting up and darting towards the restroom before anyone could say anything else.

She ran into the girl's door, hoping that Cameron didn't spot her. She stared at the panicky look on her face and quickly splashed some water to make it go away. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes like her mom used to always tell her to do when she was scared.

"Artemis, what the hell is wrong with you?" Zatanna asks. Artemis opens her eyes and in the mirror she sees Zatanna standing behind her, her arms cross.

"Nothing Zee." She tells her.

"Bullshit. You're acting really weird. Did something happen?" Zatanna asks, concerned.

"No."

"Did you do something you regret?" She asks.

"No."

"Then what the hell has got you so rattled?" Zatanna asks.

"Its...Its...Cameron." She admits in defeat.

"Did he do something?" She asks, Artemis shakes her head. "Wait...is he here?"

"Yeah, I spotted him. I came in here to hide and hope he doesn't see me." Artemis tells her. "I don't want things to get messy."

"Alright." Zatanna says, nodding in understanding. "We'll wait here for a few minutes and then when we go out, we tell the boys that you thought of a better place to hang out."

"There is an arcade a few blocks away." Artemis tells her.

"Perfect, and then we'll tell the guys that you were acting funny because it is that time of the month. That will shut them up and stop them from asking any sort of question."

"You're beginning to sound a bit like Dick Zee." Artemis tells her friend. Zatanna smiles widely.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

The two of them wait a few minutes and then step out of the restroom. Artemis took a look around, the coast was clear. She stepped out of the bathroom with Zatanna at her side. This was going...

"Artemis! How've you been Tigress?" he asks, suddenly appearing in front of the two girls. Two boy teenagers, even bigger then Conner came up behind them, one of them grabbing each of the girls.

"Hey, you can't do this!" Zatanna demands, squirming. Artemis glared at Cameron coldly, wondering what she ever saw in the guy in front of her.

"What do you want Cam?" Artemis asks.

"Can't I talk to my ex girlfriend?" Cam asks pouting.

"The word ex is in it for a reason Cam." Artemis replies.

"No need to get testy Tigress, I just want to talk. I'm sure my dad will love to hear from you. He was just thinking the other day about paying your dad a visit. I'm sure he would just love to hear about..." Artemis interrupts him before he could continue, well aware of Zatanna struggling besides her.

"I'll go with you Cam, just let Zatanna go." Artemis tells him.

"I got to say Tigress, I was really surprised that you had a friend with you since you were always so antisocial before." Cameron says taking a step towards Zatanna.

"Go to hell." Zatanna spits in his face. The guy holding her yanks on her long brown hair. She yells in pain, causing Artemis to wince, but she kept herself calm.

"Cam, if you hurt my friend, I don't talk to you and I take this guy out. You know I can." Artemis tells him.

"Okay, okay, Jimmy, release the hair." Jimmy let go, and Zatanna stopped squirming, settling to just glare at Cameron. "So Artemis, let's play you and your father's favorite game, let's make a deal."

"You know my offer Cam, take it or leave it." Artemis states. She could see a gun in the pocket of the guy holding Zatanna and she could only imagine that the guy holding her had one as well. "On second thought, I'm adding to my offer. Loose the guns, you know how much I hate them."

They had slowly been inching away from the bathrooms towards a darker part of the park. Cameron contemplated the offer.

"Hmm." He said. "How's Roy these days? I haven't seen Harper since I got expelled."

"He's fine, still hates you. So do we have a deal?" Artemis asks.

"Um...I have a better one. I take both of you, and the guns, and you talk to me so I don't kill your friend." Cameron replies, Zatanna giving a little yelp as the guy held a gun to her forehead.

"Fine. I accept, put the gun away." Artemis says, still calm like her father had trained her to be.

"Perfect, I'm so happy we were able to come to an understanding." Cameron snaps his fingers and the boys pick up Artemis and Zatanna and begin to carry them towards the parking lot.

"Stop right there!" A voice shouts from behind them. Cameron and the boys spin around to see Dick standing besides them. "Now, don't you guys think you should take a girl to dinner first before taking her home."

Cameron looks confused, but she realized what was going on. She spotted a flash of Wally to her left and she soon spotted Conner approaching the guy holding Zatanna.

"I'm tired of this Cam. Nice catching up but," Artemis flung her legs hard into the groin of the guy holding her. When his grip on Artemis loosened, she grabbed his head and flipped herself around, kicking his back, sending him sprawling to the ground. She caught a bit of Wally's shocked expression. To her left, she saw Conner punch the guy holding Zatanna in the face. Wrenching free from his grip, Zatanna ran towards Dick, who hugged her tight and glared at Cameron.

"Looks like this reunion is over Cameron." Artemis says, approaching him.

"It's just begun Artemis." He says. His henchmen had gotten up and were surrounding him. They held out their guns. "Nobody follows us or else they get shot, understood?" They all nod.

"Good. Artemis, always a pleasure. I'll see you soon." Cameron says before disappearing into the woods, leaving Artemis with an even bigger sense of dread for tomorrow.

**A/N: Duh Duh Duh DAAAAA! What did you think? I'm still inwardly freaking out about the show, even two hours later. Wally and Artemis forever. Review! Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter up tomorrow. **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I'm in denial. I don't think it's hit me yet that after next week there will be no more Young Justice. How do you guys think it will end? I'm really hoping they do like a future thing as the last scene and all the old members arrive at the cave with their kids and it's their first day as the new Young Justice. I'm probably the only one who thinks that, but does anyone else think that that would be a good way to end? **

**Here's chapter eleven, the second part to the Belle of the Ball. Originally there was just going to be two parts, but I am adding a third because this chapter was getting like super long, so part three will be up soon and then they will be going back to the S.S. Justice. **

**Disclaimer: If I had a billion trillion dollars, I would totally buy Cartoon Network and keep Young Justice on air. But seeing as I only have two dollars and some gum in pocket...basically I own nothing. **

The Belle of the Ball Part 2

"So that was Cameron, as in, your ex Cameron?" Wally asks incredulously. I just nod, staring into the woods he disappeared into. "This is so messed up."

"Nice guy you got there Artemis." Conner says.

"He's become more like his dad. He wasn't always like that. We were friends for so long and then when we first got together... he was the same old Cam, now he...he's someone different." Artemis says sadly.

Cam and her used to always complain about their father's together, about how they were never going to be like that. Looks like Cameron had taken a complete volte-face since then.

"Hey, you okay? Did he hurt you at all?" Wally asks, concern etched across his face. Artemis shakes her head.

"Good." Conner tells her. The three of them turn to where Dick is comforting Zatanna. When she spots Artemis she breaks away from Dick and runs up hugging her friend.

"You were so tough! Thank you, without you, I think I would have lost it." Zatanna tells her.

"Zee, you wouldn't have been in that situation if it weren't for me. I'm so sorry." Artemis tells her, feeling terrible. Her friend could have been killed tonight, and it was all because of her. "I am so sorry Zee."

"Hey, don't blame yourself 'Mis, it was that creep of an ex boyfriend of yours. Seriously what did you see in him?" Dick asks, putting a protective arm around Zatanna.

"We were friends as kids, our dads' did business together." Artemis tells them lamely. The sun had completely disappeared from the sky now. "Can we head back to Oliver's and Dinah's?"

"Yeah, I've had enough excitement for one night." Zatanna says. The five of them walk in mostly silence back to the house. It really wasn't a far walk, but to Artemis, it felt like forever.

"Hey, you sure you okay Artemis?" Wally asks her, both of them having strayed away from the other three.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Something else is bothering you though. You've been acting weird since I've arrived. Did...did Roy tell you anything or say anything to you?" Wally asks.

"No." Artemis replies. It wasn't exactly a lie; she had done all the speaking.

"Oh okay." Wally says sounding...relieved? She was confused, why was he relieved?

"Wally...what did you do?" Artemis asked him.

"Nothing Beautiful, really." Wally stammers out. She would have analyzed the fact that he called her beautiful a little bit more, if she wasn't slowly becoming more furious. She had had a sucky day, and she knew it was just about to get worse.

"Wally what did you do?" Artemis asks. The two of them had stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. The other three turned around, but when they saw the angry expression on Artemis' face, they realized that it was probably just best to keep moving.

"I...I..." Wally stammers.

"Spit it out Baywatch!" Artemis shouts.

"I may have agreed to spy on you for Roy." Wally says, his voice barely a whisper.

"You did what? What the hell Wally! I thought we were friends." Artemis yells.

"It's not what you think, I know how much Roy ragging on you all the time was bothering you so I agreed to help him find information if he would stop." Wally tells her.

"I can't believe you would do something so stupid! You betrayed my trust, for Roy?" Artemis shouts.

"Roy...Artemis you need to understand, I've been friends with Roy for years. He pretty much told Dick and I that we couldn't be friends with both of you. I did this so I wouldn't have to choose." Wally tells her.

"Then why wasn't Dick spying on me too?" Artemis questions.

"He walked away from it. He...didn't agree with it." Wally says quietly.

"Well now you don't have to choose between us Baywatch, I'm making the decision for you." With that, Artemis spins around and runs off, leaving Wally feeling like the biggest jerk on the planet.

^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^

Wally sighed angrily as he stepped back into Queen Manor. He had seen Dick and Bruce leaving for their hotel while he was walking up the long driveway. Dick had given him this weird look as the car passed by, as if he didn't already feel horrible enough.

He knew that Artemis was somewhere inside this house, avoiding him. He couldn't believe just how badly he had messed up. Even worst, she just had to find out after having a confrontation with her horrible ex. He walked up the staircase and went to the room he was sharing with Conner. For once, he was not hungry for his after dinner snack at all.

"I can't believe you agreed to do that." Conner says. Wally groans into his mattress.

"Con, I already feel like shit, can we not make it worst." Wally says.

"Artemis is my friend, I'm just looking out for her." Conner tells him.

"I was just trying to get Roy to back off of her."

"By spying on her for him? I thought you were the smart one Kid Flash." Conner was obviously disappointed; Wally could hear it in his voice.

"Can we please stop talking about this?" Wally asks.

"Fine, but you need to find someway to make it up to her." Conner informs him. Wally groans into his mattress again.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^

"I can't believe you!" Artemis shouted as she walked into the small archery range in the basement. "I can't fucking believe you!"

Roy spun around, a look of confusion on his face as the blonde archer approached him with tears in her eyes.

"What?" He asks.

"Don't pretend you don't know. You were so damn paranoid about me that you had to turn my friend against me? I hate you." Artemis yells.

"Oh...that." Roy says, regretting his actions.

"Yeah that. I can't believe you. Did you know that when I was little, I always wanted a big brother? When I heard Dinah talk about you, I thought, maybe just maybe I could have that wish come true. And then I meet you and you are nothing but rude and mean to me! But this is my life, so I should have seen that coming." Artemis says, laughing bitterly.

"Artemis...I'm really sorry for my actions." Roy tells her, honestly.

"Great, now you pity me. See, this is why I didn't want to tell anyone. I didn't want to be pitied for having the worst childhood in the history of childhoods!'' Artemis yells, knowing she was being a bit dramatic, but she felt that she deserved the right. "Why couldn't you have just accepted me without knowing my past? Why?"

"I...I'm just really sorry Artemis." Roy says, unsure about what else to say. She rolls her eyes.

"The day I believe that is the day that pigs flies." With that Artemis walked away from Roy and back up the stairs.

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^

"Oh my gosh, you look so pretty!" Megan squeals. Zatanna and Raquel nod their heads in agreement. I stared at myself in Dinah's three-way mirror. The dress was beautiful, Dinah sure knew style. It was a strapless floor length green dress. It had a sweetheart neckline and it hugged her chests and stomach, showing off her abs, and then at her hips it became a looser fabric the fell to the floor. A small white ribbon went around her hip right where the clingy fabric met the loose fabric. It was simple and elegant at the same time, it was perfect.

"Dinah has great taste." Raquel proclaims. "I mean look at all the clothes in here." The four girls look around Dinah's huge walk in closet.

"Thanks Raquel." Dinah says popping into the closet. "Artemis did you pick..." She rounds rack of clothes and sees Artemis in the dress. "Oh my gosh, you look amazing Artemis."

"Thanks." Artemis says blushing from all the attention.

"You girls go get your dresses, you can do your make up in here." Dinah proclaims. The other three all filter out of the closet and Dinah turns to her. "Should we talk about yesterday?"

"Roy knows now, there isn't anything to talk about Dinah." Artemis says.

"Well, it came out in a way I know you never wanted it too. I'm just trying to make sure you are okay." Dinah tells her, making Artemis feel bad. Her and Ollie did so much for her she owed them everything.

"I just... it hurts that he couldn't trust me without knowing. Now if he actually starts to tolerate me, I won't know if it is because he actually likes being around me or because he pities me." Artemis says. "I also hate that I felt ashamed of myself. I'm ashamed to be Artemis Crock. I don't want to be her anymore."

Dinah pulls the young girl, practically her daughter, into her arms. "Don't ever feel ashamed about yourself Artemis. You are a beautiful, funny, sarcastic, witty girl and Roy will come around to liking you for you, not because of anything remotely like pity. It will just take time, but I promise it will happen. Okay?"

"Okay." Artemis says with a small smile.

"Good. I think I hear the others coming." Dinah says with a smile. A few seconds later, Zatanna, Megan, and Raquel enter back into the large closet carrying their dresses. Dinah smiled and then disappeared.

"Okay, whose make up am I doing first?" Megan asks her friends.

Forty-five minutes, the girls were all ready Dinah had only come in one other time to retrieve her own dress and shoes. Artemis stared at herself in a mirror in shock.

"Megan, what did you do to me?" Artemis asks.

"You don't like it?" Megan questions, worried.

"Like it? Megan, I love it. I look so different." Artemis says. Artemis' hair was down, which is rare enough as it is, but Megan had taken a strip of hair on each side of her hair and had clipped them together so that all her hair flowed down her back in an endless stream of blonde hair. She was actually wearing make up and jewelry. "Thank you Megan."

"What else are friends for?" Megan asks laughing, hugging Artemis.

"Damn girl, you look hot." Raquel states, coming around the corner from where she had been changing into her dress.

"You too." Artemis says smiling.

"Okay, is everyone ready now?" Zatanna asks, emerging back in the closet. She had forgotten her shoes in Artemis' room and had had to make a break for it.

Megan slipped on her heels. "Now we are." She says smiling.

"Girls, the cars are here! We're going over now!" Dinah's voice shouts from somewhere outside of the closet.

"Come on." Zatanna says giggling, grabbing her friends.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^

Wally had his hands in his suit jacket pocket, still a little down from everything that had happened with him and Artemis. He couldn't believe how stupid he had been. He was barely listening to the conversation between his other friends.

Everyone but Dinah, Raquel, Megan, Zatanna, and Artemis was waiting in the front hall. Oliver was helping people into the limos that were parked out front in the long driveway. They were really going all out for this shindig. He had already spotted Hal, Barry, Arthur, Augustus, Diana, Shayera, and Katar. He could also see John, Clark, Billy, John (Stewart) chatting together near the door.

Dinah appeared first in a long black evening gown, looking stressed. She raced down the stairs, well as fast as you could in heels, over to Oliver. Wally could just barely make out the conversation.

"Ollie, all the limos are here correct?" She asked. Oliver just puts an arm around his girlfriend.

"Dinah, they are all here, calm down a little bit." He soothes. Wally didn't hear anymore of the conversation because at that moment the girls appeared. It was really a scene out of any cheesy romantic comedy. Wally, Dick, Kaldur, and Conner were all waiting at the bottom of the staircase as the girls came down the stairs. Wally probably would have reflected more on the cheesiness of it, but he soon spotted Artemis, and his mouth fell to the floor.

Not only was she wearing a dress, but she was also wearing heels, and jewelry, and her hair was down. He briefly took in his other friends, before turning back to Artemis. Zatanna wore a dark purple dress with spaghetti straps and a black belt at the waist. It poofed out slightly at the belt and fell to a little before her knees. Where she usually kept her hair down, tonight it was up in a bun with small strands of hair escaping to frame her face. Megan wore a pink dress of course. It had one shoulder and fell down all the way to the floor. A small slit went up to her knee on one side of the dress. The dress had a sort of shimmery material around it as well. Raquel walked down besides Megan, the two of them chatting amicably. She wore a gray strapless dress that like Zatanna's came down to just above her knees. It was tight until about midway down her stomach where it became less fitted. Around the bottom was a magenta colored fabric so the dress was not completely gray.

Artemis' eyes briefly met Wally's, but she looked away just as quickly, smiling when Oliver came over and hugged her, speaking quietly to her. His friends had all gone over to the girls to compliment them, and he followed suit, his eyes still trained on Artemis. What is happening?

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^

The gala was a huge success. Everything went according to plan. The dinners were brought out on time, the band arrived on time, the speeches were made flawlessly, and when the dinner and speech portion of the evening was over, the tables were cleared away flawlessly and the band began to play. The adults were intoxicated just enough to be letting loose and having fun, but nobody was drunk enough to be making a complete fool of themselves. Most importantly, Dinah had managed not to have a complete meltdown, mostly thanks to Ollie who was now dancing and gliding around the floor with a laughing Dinah.

Artemis smiled from where she stood against the sidewall. She examined the crowd again, hoping that Cameron's threat was just a threat and nothing more. She spotted a laughing Zatanna as Dick tried to teach her how to waltz, of course he would know as the adopted son of Bruce Wayne. To her left Conner and Megan were sitting at one of the tables off to the side talking and smiling. Raquel and Kaldur were spotted next; drinking glasses of champagne that Dinah had said was alright for them to have. Artemis was actually surprised that Kaldur would be the one to have a drink, being the rule stickler.

The one person Artemis could not see was Wally. He had disappeared somewhere after the dinner and speeches. She hadn't seen him since, not that she cared. Or at least she told herself she didn't care at all. The other person she hadn't spotted until then was Roy, who was talking with some of the kids she recognized from her Star City Orphanage days. She did not want to talk to them even less then she wanted to talk to Wally.

"Hey Blondie." Speak of the devil. Artemis spun around to see Wally standing next to her. She bit the inside of her lip in annoyance. Why did he have to look so hot in a suit? She was supposed to be mad at him. Artemis quickly shook those thoughts out of her head, she and Wally were just friends...err...they were before he agreed to spy on her.

"What do you want Baywatch?" Artemis asked him.

"Well, I'm the only one who doesn't seem to have a dance partner, and you don't either..." Wally trails off. In her temporarily distracted state, she had not noticed Raquel and Kaldur move to the dance floor or Megan and Conner.

"No." Artemis tells him.

"Come on Babe, its only one dance. You can be mad at me again later." Wally suggests.

"No."

"Artemis..." Something flashes across Wally's face. He grins. "You don't know how to dance."

"I do too know how to dance, just not like that." Artemis said pointing to the dancing pairs in the center of the ballroom.

"Okay, I'm going to teach you and I'm not taking no for an answer. You can be mad at me tomorrow." Wally insists, grabbing Artemis' hand and pulling her out on to the dance floor. She tried to protest, but they fell on silent ears.

"Okay I'm going to hold your left hand." Wally begins when they get out onto the dance floor. "Then you put your other hand on my shoulder and I put my hand on your hip." They arrange themselves as he said. "Okay, now just follow my lead. I know that could me a bit difficult for a bossy pants like you, but try to go with it."

Artemis follows his lead, praying that she would not fall in her ridiculous heels. They were so impractical. At first they stumbled a little bit, but Artemis was a quick learned and pretty soon the two of them were waltzing around the dance floor.

"How did you learn to dance like this anyway?" Artemis asks him.

"My aunt Iris taught me. She thinks that every teenage boy should know how to do the most basic of a waltz for events like these." Wally tells her. She laughs, picturing Wally and a feminine version of him waltzing around a living room in Central City. "You laugh, but it is actually quite a good way to pick up chicks."

"Gross Baywatch." Artemis tells him, but she was still smiling.

"Artemis," Wally starts, his tone suddenly serious. "I'm really sorry for agreeing to Roy. I was really afraid of loosing a friend, and in the process I did anyway, I lost you. I never ever should have agreed to help him, I'm an idiot."

"A dumb idiot." Artemis counters.

"A super dumb idiot." Wally tells her. "Do you think you could ever forgive me? It's only been a day and I kind of miss your sarcastic comments."

She wasn't sure what it was, maybe the dancing or the music or just the magical evening, but Artemis found herself nodding. "Yeah, I forgive you Baywatch."

"And I promise to never ever ask you anything you don't want to tell me. You can tell when you are ready." Wally says smiling. Artemis does something equally shocking then; she puts her head against his chest as the two continue to dance around. She smiled widely, wishing that this could never end.

But of course, everything has to come to an end at some point.

**A/N: Please Review? Did you guys like this? Did Wally and Artemis make up to fast? Tell me what you think on my idea for an ending scene for Young Justice too. How do you guys think it should end? I would love to know. **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thank you all my wonderful readers. I love you guys. Here's chapter 12! Two chapters in one day!**

**Disclaimer: Me no own Young Justice. **

The Belle of the Ball Part 3

"Wow, I think I might have to just meet this Bart." Artemis declares laughing.

"He's a real piece of work, but he's my cousin, so I guess that makes him my piece of work." Wally admits, the two of them still twirling around the dance floor.

"Maybe we can compare notes. I'm sure I could pick up a few things from him to pull some pranks on you." Artemis teases.

"You're secretly evil Artemis Crock." Wally says, spinning her around.

"What can I say? It comes naturally." Artemis laughs. The two of them dance for the remainder of the song before taking a break and walking over to the table where Zatanna and Dick sat.

"You guys looked...cozy out there." Dick says, with a mischievous grin. Wally shoves him out of his seat.

"Shut up dude." Wally says, his cheeks flaming red. Zatanna and Dick just laugh.

"We're just friends." Artemis insists. "I'll be right back."

Artemis walks out of the ballroom into a lavish hallway. She knew she had spotted a bathroom around here somewhere. She felt a prickling in the back of her neck, the same thing she felt every time someone was trying to sneak up on her. She spun around to see...Roy. (**A/N: Bet you all thought it was going to be Cameron:)**

"What do you want Harper?" Artemis asks him.

"You and Wally seemed to have made up." Roy states. Artemis shrugs.

"Wally can be very forgivable when he wants too." Artemis responds.

"Look, Artemis, I was hoping we could start over. You were right, yesterday I was only really saying sorry to you because I felt pity. I realized, that I would be the same way. I guess we are kind of similar." Roy says, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Thank you for your consideration, but what do you want me to say?" Artemis questions. Roy smiles, and sticks out his hand.

"Hello, my name is Roy Harper. I have a hard time trusting people, I love Ollie and Dinah to death, and I hate being called carrot." Roy says. Artemis stared at him in shock. She had no clue that Roy was even capable of being kind, let alone funny.

"I'm Artemis Crock. I have a shady past, I've made a lot of bad decisions, and meeting Ollie and Dinah was the best thing to ever happen to me. I'm also not a big fan of the nickname Arty, but it is growing on me." She says, shaking his hand.

"Well we seem to have something in common already Artemis Crock." Roy declares.

"That we do, Roy Harper." Artemis replies.

"And just so you know, I don't pity you Artemis. Sure, I think that your past is sad, but you have Oliver, Dinah, Wally, and the rest of them now. You are quite lucky." Roy tells her.

"That I am." Artemis responds, smiling widely, pulling Roy into a hug. Neither of them were really huggers, but they made an exception.

"Aw, how cute. What a shame that I have to break up such a cute family moment." Cameron coos. Roy and Artemis break apart and turn to Cameron in anger.

"What the fuck are you doing here Mahkent?" Roy asks, clearly pissed.

"Oh, I'm not here for you Harper. We'll catch up another time. As much as I would love to catch up with my old classmate, I'm here for Artemis. You see we never got to finish our talk yesterday." Cameron says.

"Oh, you said quite enough Cam." Artemis replies, glaring at him. "You know between threatening to kill one of my best friends." Roy gives her a "what the fuck" look.

"Oh Tigress, you amuse me." Cameron chuckles. "You really do. Now come peacefully and none of your friends get hurt."

"If you haven't noticed Cam, you're outnumbered." Artemis says. "I know you were expelled, but I thought they taught you how to count in preschool."

"How'd you even get in here anyway?" Roy asks.

"I had an invitation." Cameron pulls an envelope out of his suit jacket. "You see one of my friends is a Star City Orphan, he was so kind as to give me his invitation."

"Okay, so you got here, but its just you. I could take you even in this dress." Artemis threatens, slipping off her heels.

"Well about that." Cameron snaps his fingers and five huge goons appear. "There was a back door. Now, Artemis come with me, and you don't have to mess up your pretty dress."

"What do you even want Cam?" Artemis questioned, still calm, but the facade was beginning to break.

"Well, when your dad breaks out, which he will, I'm sure he'll be willing to pay big bucks for the person responsible for putting him in jail." Cameron says with a malicious grin.

"How'd you even know about that? It was supposed to be anonymous." Artemis asks in annoyance.

"I have my ways. Last chance Tigress." Cameron states.

"Not in this life time." Artemis replies, kicking up her spare heel and throwing it at the nearest goon. The heel hits the guy in the eye, and he falls to the ground clutching his eye. For once, Artemis was happy for all her father's training. The four other goons approach Roy and Artemis.

"Well this is great brother sister bonding." Roy replies sarcastically.

"No shit." Artemis replies holding her remaining heel up as a weapon.

"I'm kind of wishing that Dinah had decided upon having security right about now." Roy says as he ducks from out of the way of a flying fist.

Artemis kicked a guy scare in the stomach, happy that the dress was loose at the end. She ducked under and oncoming punch and countered with a hard punch from under the chin, knocking the guy out. Her eyes were trained on Cameron though. A third guy ran at her, but she sweeped out his legs from under him and then went after Cameron, who realized that Roy and I had made easy work of his goons. She sprinted after him, down the hallway. He was going to pay.

"Artemis! What are you doing?" Roy shouted after her, as he ducked under another punch from the last standing guy. "Artemis!"

She ignored his shouts, keeping her eyes trained on Cam. He was not getting away with this. He wasn't going to ruin the gala, threaten her, and get away with it. Artemis ran after him through a back door leading to a side alley along the hotel. He took a right and she followed but they soon hit a wall. Cameron spun around and faced her, the cocky smile gone.

"Nowhere to go Cam. We're finishing this, just you and me." Artemis declares, holding up her fists in a fighting stance. The bottom of her dress was all dirty now and her hair was out of place, he was going to pay for that too.

"Aw Tigress, you're getting sentimental on me." Cameron says.

"Yeah, threatening to kill you is so sentimental." Artemis responds, taking another step forwards so that he was backed up against the wall.

"You don't have to do this baby, remember how it used to be?" Cameron asks, raising his eyebrows.

"Gross." Artemis simply states, kicking him in the side. He follows to the ground, but rolls out of the way to avoid any other attacks.

"You've replaced me haven't you Tigress. It's the redhead you were dancing with isn't it? Seriously, you think he or any of them are still going to like you after they learn what I know about you?" Cameron asks, pulling himself back up, Artemis punches him in the stomach and he counters with a fist to her face. They both stagger away from each other, Cameron's back still against the way. Artemis spits blood onto the concrete.

"Harper still seems to like me." Artemis jumps up and kicks him in the face.

"Harper doesn't count. The dude's a weirdo." Cameron states, punching Artemis in the stomach. Artemis doubles over and just manages to roll out of the way of a boot to the face. She pops back up.

"You were never a good judge of character."

"Neither were you."

The two of them stood facing each other, both a little worse for wear, both glaring at the other.

"Artemis! Artemis! Where are you?" Voices shouted. Artemis smiled, knowing that her friends were coming with backup.

"It's over Cam, I win." Artemis declares.

"What did I use to always say to you Artemis?" Cameron asks as two forms jumped over down from the top of the wall from the other side. Artemis didn't even realize what was happening until one had grabbed her on each side and Cameron had a gun trained on her. "Now, what was it again?"

"Don't count on the win, until the final score is posted." Artemis whispered, staring at the opening.

"Ding, ding, ding, and the million dollars goes to Artemis Crock. Now let's go meet this back up of yours." Cameron states. The two goons spin around, keeping Artemis's feet off of the ground. She thrashed around widely, but they didn't loosen their grips. Cameron followed behind, the gun trained on her head. At the other end of the alley, they hit Wally, Conner, Kaldur, Dick, Zatanna, Roy, Raquel, Megan, Dinah, and Ollie. Ollie looks furious and takes a step to punch the nearest guy in the face, Conner too. But Cameron speaks before they could do anything.

"Any of you move, I have a gun trained on her back and I am not afraid to use it." They quickly dropped their guard. Artemis hung her head in shame. This...this was hell. She searched the faces of her friends, finding Wally, who looked furious, madder then she had ever seen him.

"Can't we talk about this?" Kaldur asks.

"Hmm...I've never been one for talking, especially when it involves Artemis. I much prefer...action." Artemis cringed at Cameron's stupid voice. Ten sets of laser eyes threaten to burn right through Cameron.

"What do you want? Money, I have money." Oliver pleads.

"Money from you? I doubt you could offer what her..." Artemis realized what he was about to say. Her eyes snapped open. She had worked to hard to keep her secret to have Cameron tell them all. She made a split second decision, knowing that this was going to hurt... a lot.

She throws her legs up over her head, like she is doing a flip, her legs making contact with their target, Cameron's head. The one problem was the guards still holding her arms in place. She almost passed out right there from the pain in her shoulders. She might have screamed, but she didn't even noticed. The momentum of her kick sent Cameron flying into one of the goons and the gun sailing out of his hand.

It lands closest to Raquel, who picks it up and runs off to get rid of it, not wanting to take a chance that it could end up back in Cameron or his goons hands. Black spots appear in Artemis' vision as she struggles to stay conscious. The guard that Cameron had flown into had released her and before she knew it, Oliver had punched the last goon hard in the face.

Artemis fell to the ground, trying not to throw up from the pain. She breathed heavily, trying not to focus on the pain. She felt arms wrap around her and lift her up, bridal style. She struggled, thinking that it was Cameron holding her.

"Artemis, Artemis, stop. It's just me." She heard. She opened her eyes, and once the dizziness had cleared, she saw that it was Wally holding her.

"Wally?" She mumbled as he ran her back inside the hotel away from the goons. Megan and Zatanna close behind.

"Yeah Beautiful?" He asked.

"Can you put me down? I think I'm going to throw up." Artemis tells him.

"I'll grab a bucket." Zatanna states, running off. Wally comes to a stop in a side hallway, and puts her down. She felt woozy, pretty sure that she had ripped both of her shoulders out of her sockets.

"Okay, I know this isn't exactly the time, but what the hell were you thinking when you ran after Cam?" Wally asks her. She looked at him in confusion. "Roy caught us up on everything while we were running around looking for you. Oliver almost had a heart attack."

"Sorry. So Sorry." Artemis mumbled, trying to not throw up.

"It's okay, as long as you are okay, everything is fine." Megan states. Raquel, Dinah, Oliver, and Dick come running down the hallway.

"Oh my gosh Artemis, you're okay." Dinah exclaims, dropping to the floor and hugging her almost daughter tightly. Oliver does the same.

"Guys, I'm sorry. You're gala." Artemis has to stop talking as another wave of nausea over comes her. Where was Zatanna?

"The gala doesn't matter as long as you are okay? I was so worried." Oliver says.

"I'm fine. Cameron got the worst of it." Artemis says, her vision finally going normal. "Shows that son of a bitch right."

Everyone laughs, relieved that she was acting like herself. Zatanna comes running with the bucket. Artemis accepts it gratefully, just as another wave of nausea passes through her. She throws up, Dinah holding back her hair.

"We should get you to a hospital, that flip thing must have pulled your shoulders out of their sockets." Roy states.

"Really? That's why my shoulders feel like hell?" Artemis replies sarcastically.

"I'll take you over." Oliver states, bending down to pick her up.

"I can walk, you don't have to do that." Artemis says, but Oliver hears nothing of it. He turns to Dinah and Roy.

"You guys come over at the end of the gala." He tells them. They both nod, knowing that Oliver was using his "head of a multi billion dollar company" voice. He turns to the others. "You can see Artemis when we return. Tell your guardians that the limos will be out front. Oh, and check on Kaldur and Conner, they're waiting for the police."

Everyone nods. "Get better 'Mis." Dick says, smiling at her. She just nods. Oliver carries her out of the hotel, hailing the Queen family driver.

"Hospital please." Oliver states, laying Artemis out against the backseat. It takes everything in her not to moan in pain when her shoulder hits the seat. As the car pulls away, Artemis drifts off to sleep.

^^^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^^

Artemis sat in her old bedroom in Gotham, Jade sat in front of her in her own bed. She was normal looking, not like her thief name, Cheshire.

"Jade!" Artemis says excitedly.

"Hey little sister. Nice job taking out the baddie, father dear would be oh so proud." Jade says the last part sarcastically.

"I'm just glad to be done with Cameron, and now he can't tell dad that I'm with Oliver."

"What about his dad?"

"He's a coward and would never dream of it. Plus, isn't he in prison too?" Artemis asks.

Jade smiles. "When did you get so smart?"

"When you left." Artemis replies.

"Oh, don't be bitter little sis, it's unbecoming."

"Whatever."

"By the way, do you have a thing for flash boy?"

"No way. Wally and I are just friends."

"Artemis, I'm your conscience, you totally have a thing for him."

"Wait, you're a criminal, how could you be my conscience?" Artemis asks.

"This is a dream. I can take any form you want me to take." Jade says shrugging.

"Whatever." Artemis replies. Slowly her old bedroom and Jade fade away, and she is awakened in a hospital. A doctor stands over her as well as Oliver.

"Can you sit up Miss Crock?" The doctor asks. She does just that. "Now, both of your shoulders need to be put back in their sockets. This might be a bit painful, okay?"

"Okay." Artemis says bracing for the pain.

"Alright me and Nancy here," Artemis looks over to see a nurse she hadn't originally noticed, "Are going to each do an arm at the same time. Ready? One...two...three."

Artemis screamed out in pain.

^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^

(Two Days later)

Artemis walked up the gangplank onto the ship, Megan besides her, holding her backpack. Her shoulders were both wrapped and she needed to take it easy for a couple of days, besides that and a scratch on her face, Artemis was fine. She chatted happily as they walked up the gangplank and along the deck. People rushed by, barely noticing the two girls.

Megan looked over to the basketball court where Wally, Dick, Conner, Raquel, Zatanna, and Kaldur were all playing. Megan had volunteered to help Artemis get all her stuff ready, so they had been a little behind everyone else.

"The gala was so much fun, until you know..." Megan trails off but quickly recovers. "I actually got Conner to dance with me. He usually refuses to dance, and did you see Kaldur and Raquel? The two of them would make such a cute couple."

"Totally." Artemis says grinning.

"But you know who would make the cutest couple, you and Wally!" Megan declares. "You're so full of passion and he's so full of...um..."

"It?" Artemis offers as she spots Wally shoot an air ball. The two girls laugh, but Artemis remembers her strange dream from on her way to the hospital. Maybe...just maybe...

**A/N: You guys like it? I had a lot of fun writing the fight scene, I haven't really written a lot of them before. I can't believe I did two posts in one day! I was just super exited about this I guess:) Chapter thirteen will come sometime this week, I can't guarantee when. Hopefully before the final episode (Tears). Until then, review or PM me, I love hearing from you guys. **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hello everyone! Five more days and then its all over :( I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I'm working on another idea for a story as well. It's still a pretty rough idea but It's starting to come together in my head. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. I can't believe that there are over one hundred! I love you guys:)**

**Disclaimer: ...Nothing is owned by moi...**

Back on Board

"He's totally going to walk over and start hitting on her." Wally says. Artemis nods.

"He's a total player. This is the third girl this hour that he has attempted to flirt with." Artemis responds. The two of them watching the teenage passenger approach the girl tanning by the deck. The girl lifts up her sunglasses and rolls her eyes. She drops them again, and the boy sulks away.

"Ouch, Three strikes and he is out." They watch the boy sulk off of the deck, persumably to go play video games in the arcade would be Artemis' guess. Artemis looks away from the deck and back down to the towel she was folding. Her shoulders were still a bit stiff, but they had begun to heal in the three days since they were forced back into place. She was still stuck at the towel station though, not wanting her to reinjure it in kitchen duty, lifeguard duty or anything else.

Yesterday she had had Kaldur to hang out and talk with. Today, she had Wally. They had started playing a game of guessing what the passengers were saying to each other, before being distracted by Mr. Pick up lines.

"God, I really want to know what pick up lines he used because obviously they sucked if he got turned away by not one but three girls." Artemis says. "They were probably hilarious."

"Not like mine." Wally proclaims. Artemis laughs.

"Yours are the worst. They are beyond cheesy." Artemis tells him, having had to listen to him try to pick up multiple girls on their first voyage to the Mediterranean.

"They are not! They are genius!" Wally says.

"Oh really? About half of them have to do with chemistry, which goes over a normal bimbos head, and the other half are just plain cheesy." Artemis informs him.

"You're just jealous." Wally states. Artemis turns to him.

"And what would I be jealous about?" Artemis asks.

"That I'm not using them on you." Wally responds.

"As if Baywatch, get over yourself." Artemis replies and changes the subject. "That guy is probably asking his wife if he can take the kids to the kiddie pool. Most likely because there is some hot single mom there he wants to flirt with."

Wally follows to where she was pointing and examines the couple. Two little kids hung on the dad's legs and the mom was sunbathing. "Or he is asking if he could take them for ice cream. Why do yours always have to be so negative?"

Artemis shrugs. They watch the guy walk away with the kids over to Megan behind the ice cream counter.

"Ha, I win, eat my dust." Wally declares.

"Next person." Artemis says. "Your turn to choose the people."

Wally examines the crowds, his eyes landing on a little girl tugging on her mom's shirt. "The girl is asking to go to the bathroom."

"Wally! That was way to easy, anyone could guess that. Come on, make it more challenging." Artemis tells him.

"Okay, guess what the people are saying game police." Wally says, throwing his arms up into the air. His arm accidently knocked into Artemis, pushing her left side into the counter. She winced as her left shoulder suddenly flared up in pain. She grabbed it with her other hand. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Artemis."

Artemis grinds her teeth together. "I'm fine. Watching where your hands go next time kid Klutz." Artemis didn't realize what she had said until after it was out of her mouth. Wally stared at her for a moment, obviously trying not to laugh. Within seconds, the two teenagers were full out laughing.

"Okay, I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that and just ask again if you're sure you're okay. Do I need to get John to take a look at it?"

"No Wally, I'm fine." Artemis insists, the pain fading away.

"Okay, I'm really sorry."

"I know you are Baywatch."

"Like really sorry."

"Baywatch!" Artemis says in annoyance. He grins.

"Now I know you are fine."

"You're infuriating."

"I know you are but what am I?" Wally replies. Artemis sighs loudly and looks behind her to the pool to give Zatanna a "help me" look.

^^^^^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Artemis walked into the archery range, knowing that Roy would be there. She tried not to stare at the perfectly lined up bows and arrows calling to her. Four more days, the doctor said she just had to wait a week. Four more days.

Roy was shooting at the target at the far end of the range. Artemis watched quietly as he shot an arrow, hitting just a little left of the dead center.

"Ouch, so close, yet so far." Artemis says. Roy spins around, obviously not having noticed her walk in.

"What are you doing here Artemis? I have strict instructions from Ollie to not let you anywhere near a bow." Roy tells her, laughing.

"You laugh now Harper, but someday when you bust up your shoulder, you'll understand how it feels." Artemis informs him.

"I'll be careful. What brings you here?" Roy asks.

"I came to take down measurements for a big party I plan on throwing in here." Roy gives her a shocked look.

"You serious?" Roy asks.

"No. I came here to talk to you. It's not like I can shoot an arrow right now." Artemis replies. "Boys, you would think you would achieve common sense after some time."

"Okay, okay, no need for that. What did you have to ask me?" Roy asks. "I actually have some questions for you." Roy puts away the bow on a small table and walks away from the line that you shoot behind. He sat down on a bench, Artemis sitting across from him.

"I'm guessing we have the same question. On the count of three?" Artemis asks. Roy nods. "One, two, three."

On three they both ask the other how they know Cameron. They smile, realizing that they did indeed have the same question for each other.

"I'll start. Cameron and I were in the same school together. We lived near each other before my parents died. We were somewhat friends, but I realized that he was bad news after I moved in with Ollie and Dinah when I was twelve, two years before you showed up. We used to get into arguments a lot at school. One day when I came home with a black eye when I was thirteen, Oliver told me that there was no point in fighting, and I stopped rising to his bait. Eventually he got expelled, which I asssume you know." Roy tells her. "Your turn?

"His dad and my dad did business together. When I was six, and he was eight, we moved to Gotham. When I was twelve, and moved back, we started hanging out again. We dated, we broke up when I didn't want to get involved in his antics." Artemis says shrugging.

"Okay, so we both hate Mahkent, agreed?" Roy asks with a smile.

"I and my injured shoulders agree." Artemis says.

"How come I never knew that you and him were dating? I mean, you've practically been living with us for a year."

"I never told Ollie and Dinah, so why would I have told you?" Artemis asks, standing up. "See you at dinner Roy."

"See you _Arty_." Roy replies. Artemis rolls her eyes as she slides the door shut behind her.

^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

"Earth to Megan!" Raquel says, waving her hands behind Conner's head. She didn't notice, to involved with sucking face with Conner. Wally tries getting Conner's attention, again no response.

"Should we just leave them?" Kaldur suggests. "We can find another spot to hang out."

Artemis shrugs. She and the others had all come out to their usual nighttime hangout spot, but Conner and Megan had already been there, making out. It seemed some people had decided to rebel and sneak out of dinner.

Megan opened her eyes, suddenly realizing that they were all standing there. She pulls away from Conner. Both of them blush, looking around at their friends.

"You know, I've heard that there is an empty storage room below Deck E that you two can make out in." Dick tells them. "Or do other things."

The two of them glare at him as he cackles. Everyone else rolls there eyes, used to his tactics by now.  
"Sorry guys. You haven't been there long, have you?" Megan asks sheepishly.

"No, not at all." Kaldur says, glaring at Wally and Dick before the two could say anything.

"Good." Megan replies smiling. She leans against Conner, the two of them sharing a lounge chair. The rest of them arrange their chairs to form a semi circle of sorts. A lack of lounge chairs (darn passengers, why are they always moving them?) meant left Wally and Artemis sharing one. The two of them sat side by side, both aware of the mere inches between them.

"So Megan, where has John said we are stopping first?" Kaldur asks. They had seen a few islands from a distance, but were mostly just traveling through the Caribbean aimlessly.

"As a matter of fact, Uncle John told me this morning at breakfast that we are arriving in Costa Rica sometime tomorrow." Megan tells them, smiling as Conner wraps his arms around her, pulling her into his lap.

"Yuck." Raquel states.

"Um...what's wrong with Costa Rica?" Zatanna asks.

"Well there is a rainforest there, that means lots and lots of bugs, imparticular, mosquitoes." Raquel says making a face.

"You hate bugs?" Artemis asks.

"Yes." Raquel replies.

"All types? Some are really cool." Wally tells her.

"You would say that." Artemis says quietly, so that only Zatanna could really hear. She laughed, causing everyone to give the two of them a weird look.

"Yeah, I hate all bugs, but in particular Mosquitoes. You don't get a lot of them in Dakota City."

"Well I'm sure, we can find a way for you to still enjoy the trip." Kaldur tells her with a smile. Raquel smiles in return. Megan and Artemis exchange looks.

"Speaking of Dakota City, we haven't heard about your break yet Raquel." Dick says. "I mean I told you about Barbara pushing me into a snow bank. We heard about the girl Kaldur liked dating his best friend. Wally told us all about Bart's antics and Conner told us about the farm. Megan went on and on about her millions of family members." Dick ignored the look Megan shot him. "We even heard about Artemis and Ollie's shooting competition and Zatanna and her grandmother's shopping trip. But we never heard what you did."

Everyone turns to Raquel who stares at her feet.

"If you do not wish to tell, you don't have too." Kaldur offers.

"It didn't start out bad. I ran into a childhood friend of mine and I hung out with him and all of his school friends since they were all there on vacation. It was good until I ran into the old crowd I used to run with. Virgil, my friend who I ran into, and I had kind of drifted away from them. He going to his new school and me coming here so it was just awkward to see them." Raquel tells, still staring at her feet.

"You're keeping something." Dick notes.

"Dick, stop being such a dick." Conner tells him. He makes a face at Conner.

"Fine, my ex boyfriend was there and it was awkward. I don't like seeing them since they all think that I think that I am better then them since I stopped hanging out with them, but who wouldn't? They left me to get caught!" Raquel complains. Everyone looks at her, confused. "Oh right, I've never told you guys how I met Augustus."

"How did you meet Augustus?" Wally asks, curious.

"Oh, simple, my "friends" convinced me to break into a house with them. The house was Augustus'. I sprained my ankle trying to get out when we heard police sirens and they all left me to take the fall for them. Augustus dropped all charges as long as I helped out in the law office and the two of us became friends." Raquel explains. Everyone is silent for a moment.

"They really sound like great friends." Conner comments.

"I know. They are real charmers." Raquel says.

"I can't believe your boyfriend just left you. That is cruel." Megan says.

"Hence the word ex." Raquel tells her.

"I'm sorry Raquel." Kaldur says gently.

"It's not a problem anymore. I met Augustus and now I am here. If I didn't get caught, I never would have met any of you guys."

"Funny how things happen sometimes." Artemis says.

"Yeah." Wally replies.

The eight of them talk for a lot longer. Sometime around ten o'clock, before they were getting ready to head back down for the night, they realized that Artemis and Wally had stopped talking. They looked over at the farthest lounge chair to see that the two of them had fallen asleep, Artemis' head resting on Wally's chest, his arms wrapped around her.

"I bet they start dating in a month." Dick says.

"I say six weeks." Zatanna counters.

"Forty bucks?" Dick questions.

"You're on boy wonder." Zatanna and Dick shake hands.

"Do you think this is wise?" Kaldur asks.

"Aw, let them have some fun." Raquel says, laughing quietly. They all turn when they hear rustling from where Dick was sitting.

"Dick, do I even want to know what you are doing?" Conner asks. They all blink as a flash goes off.

"Did you just take a picture of them?" Megan questions.

"When they have been dating for five years and living together, we'll all laugh about this." Dick states. They all just shake their heads.

"Really? They aren't even dating yet." Conner says.

"I know. I just have a feeling." Dick tells them. They all just shrug, and then do rocks paper sisscors shoot for who has to be the one to wake them up since they can both be very grumpy when they first wake up.

^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^

Roy walked into the archery range to finish tidying everything up before people arrived in the morning. He turned on the lights and spotted a figure lying on a bench in the middle of the range. A girl with long black hair looked up.

"Geesh, Red, I'm sleeping here. You want to turn the lights off again?" The girl asks him.

"Um...you're not supposed to be here." Roy states.

"Hm, stating the obvious now are we." The girl says. "You going to report me?"

"I should." Roy tells her.

"People should do a lot of things, doesn't mean they do them." She states. Her smile quickly falls. "Look Red, I needed to hitch a ride some place. Your little ship here is going to my destination. Would you please be a dear and just let me ride this out. I promise I won't be in here in the morning."

Roy contemplates for a moment. I mean, there was no harm if she stayed out of sight.

"Fine, one condition, you need to make yourself scarce." Roy informs her. She laughs.

"Don't worry, you won't even notice me. I'll be like the Cheshire cat and disappear." She says with a grin similar to that of the famous cat.

"Alright. I'm Roy by the way."

"I prefer Red." The girl says, resting her head back down on the bag on the bench. Roy goes to exit the range.

"What's your name anyway or should I just call you Cheshire?"

"Jade. Jade Nguyen."

**A/N: And enter drama. Wow, that was written a lot quicker then I thought it would take. Raquel like never gets any screen time, so I looked up her bio on wikipedia and decided to include her background in this. So review and tell me your thoughts. Hopefully fourteen will be up on Thursday or Friday. Until then, stay traught. **


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I'm writing chapter 14 on the 14th! Hahahaha. So I have no school today and instead of doing homework like I should be doing right now, I'm writing, so much more fun:) It's time for the crew to arrive in Costa Rica! Woot woot! If you guys have suggestions for future places for them to go or things to happen, feel free to comment in a review! I'm always open to ideas.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own, if I did, our hearts would not be facing impending breakage on March 16th. **

Land Adventures

Artemis awoke with a start, looking around her room. How had she ended up here? The last thing she remembered was slowly drifting off when Zatanna was entertaining Dick by talking backwards. She remembered Wally being there on the deck, they had been sharing a chair...Oh my gosh, she feel asleep on Wally!

She was definitely wide-awake now, still confused to how she had ended up back in her bed. She looked down, still in her clothes from last night. She got out of bed, and put on a blue tank top, careful of her wrapped shoulders, a pair of jean shorts, and her favorite jacket. She slipped on a pair of converse and walked out of her room, nearly colliding with Wally.

"Watch where you're going Baywatch." She says, locking her door.

"That was all you Beautiful." Wally replies, smirking.

"Whatever. Hey, what happened last night? How...how did I end up back in my room?" Artemis asked.

"You fell asleep, as did I, and then Kaldur was trying to wake us up. I was a good person, and did not slap Kaldur across the face and then go back to sleep." Wally replies grinning. Artemis looked at him horrified.

"I did what?" She exclaimed!

. "You slapped Kaldur when he tried to wake you up." Wally tells her again as the two of them walk down the hall and wait for the elevator.

"Please tell me you are joking Wallman." Artemis pleads.

"I wish I was. It was pretty funny. Don't worry, Kaldur wasn't hurt, he actually found it pretty funny. No one is going to be messing with a sleeping Artemis any time soon." Wally jokes. Artemis punches him in the shoulder. "Ow! What was that for?"  
"How can you be laughing? I slapped Kaldur!" Artemis says.

"Okay harpy, chill, it was no big deal. You slapped Kaldur, continued to sleep, and then I carried you back to your room." Wally tells her shrugging. The elevator doors open and they step in.

"You carried me back?" Artemis asked skeptically.

"Yeah. Megan, Raquel, and Zatanna couldn't have done it. Dick had to go talk with Bruce, Kaldur was a bit skeptical, and Conner already had a sleepy Megan leaning on him." Wally says. "It was no big deal. We're friends, friends help each other out."

"Totally." Artemis responds. She wasn't even going to ask if she had been sleeping on Wally's chest like she remembered. It must have been her imagination.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

Roy walked into the archery range first thing the next morning, even before he went to breakfast. He opened the door, peered in, and saw...

No one. The range was completely empty. He did a quick sweep of the room; everything was in place, nothing stolen, and everything in pristine condition, like how he left it. It was almost like the girl had never been there. Maybe he had just imagined it...

"Looking for me Red?" Roy spun around to see Jade standing in the doorway, a cocky smile on her face. "I didn't know you would miss me that much. I would have waited for you if I had known you were coming."

"Sure you would have." Roy replies. Somehow she had managed to find a new set of clothes, wearing a green halter top, black shorts and the same knee high boots as the day before.

"Oh I definitely would have Red."

"It's Roy. What is it with girls giving me nicknames about my hair?" Roy questions, mostly to himself. Jade walks around the room, circling Roy.

"You interact with a lot of girls?" Jade asks.

"You don't need to be jealous Cheshire, it's only my somewhat sister Artemis." Roy could have sworn he saw her eyes widen a bit at Artemis' name, but it was only there for a second, so quick, he was pretty sure he imagined it.

"Oh I'm not jealous Red, more curious." She replies. "I'm going to go and explore the ship. See you later Red."

And before he could reply, the girl had disappeared out the door. Unsure, what to do, Roy walked out of the range to head towards breakfast. He would figure out how to deal with the girl later, when he had a full stomach.

^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^

Megan had decided that it would be a good idea to meet people their age in Costa Rica. In other words, they were going to a nightclub. Artemis sighed angrily, lying across Zatanna's bed as she, Megan, and Raquel sorted through all their clothes.

"Why are we doing this again?" Artemis asks, all the blood rushing to her head.

"Come on 'Mis, it'll be fun." Zatanna encourages. "Plus, we don't have to work or meet with Dinah tomorrow, so we can stay out as late as we want."

"As long as we check in every two hours with somebody on board." Raquel adds, holding up a navy blue tank top.

"Do they know where we are going?" Artemis asks, sitting up.

"Nope. They think we are just exploring. It'll be fun. Come on." Megan insists dragging Artemis up off of the bed.

Artemis felt ridiculous. She stood in the elevator with her best friends. The four of them were trying to get off the boat without the adults noticing them dressed up and ask exactly what type of exploring they were doing. The boys were meeting them on the dock.

Artemis absentmindedly reached for her ponytail to find that it wasn't there. For the second time this week, her long blonde hair was down. She wore a short black skirt (borrowed from Raquel); a silvery tank top Dinah had bought her, and her black jacket. She had drawn the line at a pair of wedges Megan had dangled in front of her face, opting for a pair of sandals.

As always, her friends looked gorgeous. Raquel's hair was less crazy then usual and she wore a navy blue tank top, high waisted black shorts and silver sandals. Megan had a pink sundress and wedges. Zatanna wore a sheer purple shirt over a purple camisole and a black skirt.

They looked both ways, before running out of the elevator to the gangplank to leave the ship. None of them breathed until they were safely on the dock. They looked behind them to make sure none of their mentors were chasing after them, demanding to know where they are going. All clear, the four girls walked along the dock until they found the guys. Dick let out a low whistle.

"You guys look hot." He states. "I'll make sure to use my ninja skills to fight off all the other guys." He says, sliding over to stand next to Zatanna.

"You're acting quite chalant Dick." Zatanna notes. "Try to be a bit more... nonchalant." Artemis was sure Dick was going to kiss her right there.

"So where is this...nightclub?" Kaldur asks. The word sounded weird coming out of his mouth. Megan slid her hand into Conner's and then turned to them smiling.

"Not far. Let's go." She says smiling. Everyone clustered together. Wally walked besides Artemis.

"So Arty, hair down two times in a week. New record?" He asks grinning.

"Shut up Baywatch before I make you." She replies.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^

Wally sat at their table, sipping from his can of coke. Everyone but Kaldur and Raquel were also sitting around the table. Almost immediately after entering the club, Raquel was pulling Kaldur out onto the dance floor. The big guy was completely helpless. Wally smiled as he took another sip of soda.

"He, I think that girl is checking you out." Wally says, elbowing Dick. He turned around, to see another tourist with long blonde hair smiling seductively at Dick. He smiled and waved.

"You think I could get her number?" Dick asks. Artemis and Zatanna shook their heads.

"Really Dick?" Artemis asks.

"What?" He asks. Artemis shook her head, pulling Zatanna away with her to go get another soda. Dick turns to Wally. "What did I do?"

Wally shrugs. "Girls. I'll never completely understand them." Conner nods, earning him a rare glare from Megan who got up and joined Zatanna and Artemis. Raquel and Kaldur reappear.

"Where are the girls?" Raquel asks, as Kaldur sits in a seat.

"At the bar, getting some sodas." Dick says.

"Mhm, soda sounds good. I'll go get one too." Raquel states, turning away to make her way through the crowd. Dick elbows Kaldur.

"Dude, she's totally into you." He states. Kaldur gives him a weird look.

"Raquel and I are just friends." He insists.

"Sure. Hey, how do you feel about that guy?" Dick asks pointing to where he had spotted the girls all clustered together, waiting for their drinks. A guy had come up and was totally trying to flirt with Raquel.

"As long as he has good intentions, I am fine with him." Kaldur responds, as noble and polite as ever. But all three other guys could see the look of annoyance he gave the guy when he thought they weren't looking.

"Okay, Wally I have a dare for you." Conner says.

"Really? What? Please don't make me take off any sort of clothes, we are in a public place." Wally begs.

"Go talk to that girl over there." He points to a leggy brunette, sitting alone at a table. Wally's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"I don't need a dare to go and do that." Wally states getting up from the table. He downs the rest of his coke. "See you guys later."

Artemis headed back over to the table with a Cherry Coke. She looked around the table noticing that Wally was missing.

"Where's Wallace?" She asks, sitting back down. Zatanna, not looking at Dick, does the same. Megan practically sits in Conner's lap.

"Conner dared him to go talk to that girl over there." Artemis spun around to see Wally flirting with a brunette. She actually looked interested in him. Is she clinically insane?

"'Mis, you alright?" Dick asks. She spins back around.

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" She asks, speaking quickly.

"No reason." Dick replies with a trollish grin. Artemis glares at him.

"I'm going to go dance." She says, surprising everyone, even herself. "Anyone coming?"

"I'll go." Zatanna says, standing up. Raquel does the same. Megan does too, pulling Conner up as well. Kaldur and Dick watch them go.

Out on the dance floor, the music was even louder and hotter. She had left her jacket at the table, and for that she was thankful. Megan pulled Conner away, the two of them disappearing, leaving just Zatanna, Raquel, and Artemis. Artemis quickly realized that this was a bad idea. Zatanna and Raquel began to dance around, moving erratically. Artemis suppressed a laugh, and joined them.

Before they knew it, the three girls were laughing at themselves, dancing around to the beat of a loud music. Artemis felt hands grab her hips. She spun around to see a hot guy with brown hair smiling at her.

"Dance?" He asks, offering his hand. She looks back at her two friends, both shooing her away.

"Sure." She says, smiling, placing her hand in his. He leads her deeper out onto the dance floor. When they stop, he places his hands on her hips and her arms go around his neck. They swing back and forth to the beat of the music.

Artemis couldn't help thinking that this was not nearly as fun as at the gala. Dancing with Wally had been...nice...fun. This was just kind of... Artemis didn't know what to say. She just went with it. She felt his lips on her neck, slowly moving up to her lips. She was about to pull away when she felt someone jerking her away.

She spun around to see a seething Wally, glaring at the two of them. The guy looked between the two of them.

"He your boyfriend spitfire?" He asks her.

"No." Artemis replies, glaring at Wally. The guy leans down and whispers to Artemis,

"Well maybe you should tell him that." He walks away, leaving Artemis and Wally. Artemis stomps away from the dance floor and out a side door, Wally follows.

"What the hell was that?" Artemis shouts.

"I didn't like him." Wally responds.

"You didn't like him, good to know, except, I don't really care." Artemis replies.

"Come on, you weren't actually about to make out with some guy you don't even know the name of."

"Who says I don't know his name?"

"Do you?"

"Yeah. Its..." Artemis quickly thinks of a name. "Kent."

"Kent? Lame. I don't believe you." Wally responds.

"Whatever Kid Annoying. You had no right!" Artemis says.

"Hey, I was being a good friend and looking out for you."

"I don't need you looking out for me. I can take care of myself."

"And your ex boyfriend holding you at gunpoint is what? His way of saying hello. Yeah, you're doing a great job of taking care of yourself." Wally states. Artemis stares at him.

"You're a jerk. I'm going back to the ship." Artemis declares turning away from Wally and heading away from the club.

"Hey, what about the buddy system? You can't go out on your own." Wally calls out after her. She flips him the bird in response and continues to stalk away.

Neither of them noticed the girl in the shadows with the long dark hair watching the whole exchange. She looked between her sister and the redhead before quickly moving on.

**A/N: The course of true love never did run smooth. So I hoped you guys liked it. This probably wasn't my best chapter, but I promise the next one will be better. I'm thinking about having Bart, Jason, and Barbara all making appearances in the next chapter. What do you guys think? I'm going to be busy Friday and Saturday so hopefully the next chapter will be up on Sunday, but I can't say anything for certain. Thanks for reading, please review, they are very much appreciated. **


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: BEWARE; I have spoilers in this Authors Note. If you have not yet seen episode 20, I suggest you skip right to the story. **

**Day #1 post Young Justice. I'm still in denial. And angry. I would have been better if it had a happy ending, but really...you killed Wally? WTF! Really Young Justice Writers, really? I can't believe he died. Wally and Artemis finally got back together and they killed him? WHAT THE FUCK WERE THEY THINKING? Now I need a season 3...like really need. God damn it. Just...why?**

**End Rant. Anyone else who feels like ranting, PM me. Ranting with somebody is better then alone. Also, I'm going to be posting the prologue to my new story, which will be a kind of my take on season 3. There will be two OC's and Artemis and Wally will get back together eventually. I still have a few more ideas for this story and I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Don't give up on the fandom because it is over and the ending sucked, us writers will continue it for those who still want it. I'm not ready for it to be over yet and I plan to continue writing for this fandom for a while. **

**Disclaimer: Young Justice belongs to a bunch of trolls who like breaking people's hearts.**

Aftermath

Artemis woke up the next morning with a raging headache. It felt like somebody was drilling into her head. Grabbing her pillow, she threw it over her head, wishing that it would do something to help. It didn't.

Stumbling out of bed, she changed out of her clothes from last night that she had been too lazy to take off when she arrived back at her room the night before. She changed into a comfy pair of athletic shorts and a shirt from an archery competition. She didn't have to work today...thank God. She rubbed her shoulders, wishing they would stop aching like her head. God, she didn't even drink last night and somehow ended up feeling hung over.

Artemis managed to get out of her room and remember to lock it behind her and make it to the elevator. Maybe some breakfast would help.

"Artemis!" She spun around to see Conner coming out of her room, carrying her jacket. She smiled; she had gotten halfway back to the boat already when she remembered that she had left her favorite jacket in the club.

"Thanks Con." She said as he handed it off to her. "What would I do without you guys?"

"It's nothing Artemis." Conner says, the elevator opens up and the two of them step inside. "So you and West got into a fight."

"I don't really want to discuss it Conner." Artemis tells him.

"I figured. Wally can be an idiot, he was bound to piss you off again eventually." Artemis smiled at that.

"You got that right." Artemis responds. The elevator dings and the doors open wide. Artemis begins to walk away but Conner's hand is suddenly on her shoulder, stopping her.

"Just remember, he may be an idiot, but he always tries to do what he thinks is best for his friends. Sometimes its not always the right thing, but he tries." Conner tells her. Artemis just nods and walks away to get some breakfast.

^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^

"Artemis hates me." Wally announces to Dick. The two of them sat stood side by side, looking out over the edge of the boat. It had left Costa Rica early this morning, leaving behind a jumble of bad memories.

"Zatanna won't talk to me. Join the pity party." Dick mumbles, staring at the water below. "Why do we always mess up somehow?"

"I don't know." Wally admits. They hear laughter behind them...Raquel's. And Kaldur's. They both spin around to see Raquel and Kaldur walking by hand in hand, both laughing and smiling. They didn't notice the two of them as they quickly spun back around.

"At least someone is happy." Wally says grumpily. Dick elbows him.

"They deserve it."

"Yeah they do. Especially Raquel, her last guy sounds like an absolute jerk." Wally responds.

"Last night was a disaster, heavy on the dis." Dick says, the two of them once again choosing to wallow in self-pity.

"It was." Wally says in agreement.

"On the bright side, Barbara and her dad are coming on the boat next week when we arrive back in port." Dick says. "It's Gotham Academy's spring break."

"Cool." Wally responds. He had met Barbara a few times, she was pretty nice. The two of them got along well enough.

"Jason's coming too." Dick says quietly.

"As in Jason, your new adopted brother?" Wally asks.

"Bruce is making it official when we are back in Miami." Dick responds.

"What do you think of it all?"

"Honestly, I haven't decided yet. I mean, it could be cool to have a brother. But Barbara says he's a troublemaker and a bit of a handful."

"Barbara knows him?"

"He goes to Gotham Academy on Bruce's scholarship. It's how Bruce met him." Dick explains.

"Oh. Well I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Yeah." Dick says lamely. The two of them stare out at sea quietly for a little bit. "You know you're my best friend right Wally?"  
"I know Dick. You're mine too."

^^^^^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Roy notched an arrow and let it fly. It cut through the air, hitting the bulls-eye. Roy smiled to himself, and notched another arrow. He had just finished his class for the day, and was enjoying his free time to shoot. He took a deep breath, aimed...

"Hey Red." Roy lowered his bow and spun around to see Jade.

"Cheshire."

"Oh, we have nicknames for each other. It's like we're friends or a couple or something." Jade smirks, walking around, running her hand over all the bows set up along the back wall.

"What do you want Jade? I thought you were getting off in Costa Rica?" He asks her, secretly happy that she was staying on at least a little longer. Besides the fact that she was obviously attractive, she was kind of exciting and fun to talk to.

"I said that one of your stops was the same as mine. It's not Costa Rica, to many mosquitoes."

"So I take it you've been there before?"

"Yes."

"Business or pleasure?"

"A little bit of both." Jade replies, smirking. She picks up a bow and pulls the string taunt.

"You ever shot an arrow before?" Roy asks her.

"Yes, it was always my sister's thing though." Jade tells him. He nods.

"My adopted dad is really into it."

"Oliver Queen. And your not quite adopted sister, but almost sister is Artemis Crock." Jade says, nonchalantly. She puts the bow back on the rack and moves over to another area.

"I see you did some digging."

"I was quite intrigued Roy Harper." She says in response. Suddenly the door was being opened to the range. Roy spun his head over to the door to see Artemis there.

"You talking to yourself again Harper?" Roy looked around to see that Jade had disappeared, almost like she had never been there.

"No. You must be going delusional." He tells Artemis. "You still have three more days Arty, what are you doing here?"

"First off, don't call me Arty. Second, I'm here delivering a message from Oliver. He has some sort of announcement to make tonight at dinner and they want us both there." Artemis tells him. He nods.

"Sounds good, I'll be there. I should probably clean up here." Roy says, looking around again. Jade was still nowhere to be seen.

"You missing something?" Artemis asks.

"What?" He asks, looking confused.

"Um...well you keep looking around nervously. Want me to help?"  
"No!" He says a little to forcefully. Artemis takes a step back. "I mean, don't want to injure those shoulders anymore now do we Arty?"

"Can you cut it with the Arty." Artemis says, giving him a dirty look. "I'm going. See you at dinner Harper."

Artemis disappeared, closing the door to the archery range behind her. Jade suddenly emerged from behind a locker.

"Whew, that was close." Jade says. "I should probably go. See you later Red."

Jade slinks out the door, leaving Roy alone in the archery range. He looks around at the scattered bows and arrows. He really did need to clean up. He sighed and got to work doing his least favorite part of the job.

^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

_Show me a hero, and I'll write you a tragedy. -F. Scott Fitzgerald_

Artemis stared at the quote. Dinah wanted them to write a page analyzing the quote. She stared at it, wondering what she could write. She tapped her pen on the desk for a few minutes, before beginning to write.

_ A hero by definition is somebody who saves others. What that definition does not include is the fact that a hero has to give up many things in their life to do this. Firefighters risk their lives everyday. And then there are the simple everyday heroes who just are heroes in the way they stand up for what they think is right. The problem is that heroes to often find themselves stuck in tragedy. _

Artemis stares off into space, thinking about her mom. Her mom had tried to be a hero by standing up to her father and getting out of the life. She is a hero in Artemis' eyes, but her story is a tragedy because she will now be stuck in a wheelchair for life and at least five more years of prison. She was Artemis' hero, but she was her own tragic tale as well.

Artemis continued to write her paper and soon she had cover two pages front and back. For once she was overachieving instead of Dick.

Staring up, Artemis say the lone picture tacked up onto her bulletin board. Wally and forced his way into her room two days ago and insisted on hanging up the picture since according to him, her room was just too damn depressing. The picture was of eight of them in front of Queen Manor from the night of the gala. She gave herself a small smile, maybe Fitzgerald was wrong, and maybe not every hero's story was a tragedy.

She turned back to her desk, and moved on to her next homework assignment.

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^

Oliver suddenly stood up in the middle of dinner, startling Artemis, Dinah, and Roy who were all looking at him like he was crazy.

"Oliver, what are you doing?" Dinah hisses between her teeth. Oliver picked up his glass and gently hit his spoon against the glass.

"I thought this was just a family announcement?" Roy whispers to Artemis. She nods in response, catching her friends' confused faces in the ballroom. Before she knew it, she found her and Wally exchanging a look, before the two of them looked away.

"Attention everyone, I have something important to say." Oliver states, putting down his glass and spoon. "Today I have something very important to say."

Oliver's booming voice reverberated throughout the dining hall. Everyone sat riveted, praying that something was not wrong with the boat. Why else would Oliver Queen be making an important announcement?

"Ten years ago on this day a very important person walked into my life, Dinah Lance." Everyone turns to Dinah, who had begun to blush. She looked over at Oliver in confusion as he continued. "Ten years is a long time to put up with someone. I am thankful that she did it. Through everything, she has always been by my side. Together we have done a lot together and had many adventures. I think it's time for another one." Oliver got down on one knee in front of Dinah's chair and pulled a ring out of his pocket. "Dinah Lance, would you do me the honor of officially becoming Dinah Queen?"

"YES!" Dinah was shouting before he could even finish asking. She flung herself out of her seat into Oliver's arms. Together the two of them fell onto the floor laughing. Oliver kissed Dinah and everyone began to clap.

Artemis was grinning like a maniac, clapping loudly. Roy was doing the same. The two of them looked at each other.

"Did you see this coming?" Roy asked. Artemis shook her head. "Well that was a nice surprise."

Artemis looked across the hall and found Wally's eyes looking at her. He clapped and whistled loudly, but he was looking at her.

"Can we talk?" He mouthed.

"Later." Artemis mouthed back as she felt Oliver lifting her out of her seat, smiling widely and laughing. Artemis did the same, still looking at Wally.

**A/N: So I hope you guys like that. Roy got even less screen time then Wally in season two which is really saying something. So here's to all those characters that got ignored in season two. Hopefully we can somehow find a way to have a season three and get them the screen time they deserve. Until next chapter, peace. **


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Thank you everyone for the great reviews. I'm still clinging to the idea that there ****might**** be a third season. I really hope people listen to us. We are an awesome fandom and we will be heard. Chapter 16, here we go!**

**Disclaimer: Young Justice unfortunately does not belong to me...it's very unfortunate.**

They Aren't Just Words

They met out on the deck after the celebrations had ended. Dinah and Oliver had disappeared to celebrate on their own. Artemis did not want to know what they were doing. Her other friends had all gone off to do their own thing, deciding to not meet up for the night, leaving it just her and the Wallman.

"Hey." She said, taking a seat besides him. The two of them sat in their chairs, staring out at the night sky in front of them. Artemis looked up, and quickly located her constellations. She looked over and saw Wally doing the same. "What are you doing?"

"I'm locating your silly constellations. I...I've done it a lot after that first time we talked. It reminds me of you." Wally says.

"Um...stars? Me?"

"Yeah. Everything out there is a mystery and I would love to learn more, like you." Wally tells her.

"Oh, that's...sweet." Artemis settles on.

"Look, I'm sorry what I said. I shouldn't have made that Cameron comment, it was mean. And I was over reacting about the other guy. I just..." Wally trails off for a moment. "Remember when we were walking back from the park after the confrontation with Cameron?"

"Yes, what does that have to do with anything?" Artemis asks her.

"Well when we were all walking back from the park, before you found out about Roy, you were really distracted and sad and I didn't like seeing you like that. When I saw you with that guy yesterday, I got scared that he was going to hurt you and you would be like that again. I would have done anything in that moment to keep you from getting hurt." Wally tells her, being completely honest with her. "I will do anything to help somebody, especially if they are a friend. It's probably going to be my ultimate downfall, but it's worth it."

Artemis wanted to cry. Why did he have to be like that? Why couldn't he be a jerk like she first thought? It would make everything easier. Why did she have to make friends, it was just going to make everything hurt so much more when it will come to an end, and it will. Everything eventually comes to an end in her life.

Artemis got up and sat down in the seat with Wally. It was just barely big enough for the two of them. She wrapped her arms around Wally hugging him.

"That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." Artemis says softly, hugging him close, breathing in his smell.

"I simply said the truth." He responds, wrapping his arms around Artemis. They sat quietly like that for a long time, neither wanting to end the moment.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^

"I see you and West made up." Conner comments when she walks over to stand next to him in the towel stand.

"What makes you think that?" Artemis asks him.

"He had the look on his face that he gets whenever you're around or he's thinking of you." Conner simply replies. "You two should just start dating already."

"And when did you become the relationship expert?" Artemis asks. He shrugs.

"I just don't make it complicated, just calling it as I see it." Conner tells her, with a sly grin. Two kids approached asking for smoothies. Conner and Artemis went right to work after that. They laughed and teased each other in between customers, neither of them mentioning the budding relationship between her and the Wallman.

I can't believe we are already preparing for our last stop of this trip!" Megan proclaims. The eight of them were all sitting in a circle of sorts out on the deck that night.

"Plus, I can take these stupid bandages off tomorrow." Artemis says excitedly.

"I guess tomorrow will be a good day." Kaldur says, his fingers laced with Raquel, the two of them sharing a lounge chair. They said it was because there was enough, but their friends weren't stupid. Dick was the one to notice the hand holding though.

"So, Raquel, Kal, you guys a couple yet or what?" Dick asks.

"What?" Raquel splutters out. "What are you talking about Dick?"

"Oh come on Raquel, you guys call me boy wonder for a reason. I can see the two of you holding hands."

Everyone turned to stare at the interlocked hands just as they pulled them apart, both of them flushing as red as the sunset they had seen earlier.

"You guys don't need to be ashamed, we're all friends here." Megan says, cheerfully.

"We haven't made anything...official yet or anything." Kaldur stumbles out lamely.

"Do it now." Wally insists.

"What?" Raquel asks. Wally gives sighs.

"You two are both so..." He trails off, choosing not to finish that sentence. "Okay, Kaldur do you want Raquel as your girlfriend?"

"Yes, but Wally where are you..." Wally cuts him off.

"Raquel do you want Kaldur as your boyfriend?" Wally asks her.

"Yeah, but Wally..." He cuts her off as well.

"Well, then by the power invested in me by myself, I now pronounce the two of you a couple. You may now kiss your girlfriend." Everyone stares blankly at Wally.

"Baywatch, they're not getting married or anything." Artemis tells him.

"Hey, I was just saying the first thing that came to mind." Wally states, turning to the two of them. "So Kaldur, you going to kiss her or what?"

Raquel looks like she is about to say something to Wally, but is quickly cut off by Kaldur's lips on her own. She looks surprised at first, but quickly she wraps her arms around his neck.

"Told you." Wally says elbowing Artemis.

"Told me what?" Artemis asks.

"My plan worked."

"I thought you just made that up on the spot?"

"That's what I wanted you to think." Wally tells her. Artemis face palms and just shakes her head.

"You're impossible Kid Idiot." Artemis proclaims. Wally gives her a sly grin. Dick looks over at the still kissing couple.

"They are so feeling the aster." Dick announces.

"At least someone is." Zatanna mutters, still annoyed at Dick. He looked over at her, confused. "I'm going to go see if my dad needs any help setting up for his next show."

Zatanna gets up and walks away, leaving a confused Dick in her wake. Kaldur and Raquel pull apart.

"What was that about?" Dick asks.

"For a boy wonder, you sure are dense sometimes." Raquel tells him. Kaldur smiles at her, taking her hand in his again.

"What do you mean?" Dick asks.

"Dick, Zatanna is mad at you." Artemis starts.

"What for?"

"Okay, even I'm not this dense." Conner proclaims. Megan gives him a look, and he stops talking before he could say anything else.

"You'll just have to ask her yourself." Megan tells him. He sighs.

"Come on guys!"

"No whining." Artemis insists. He crosses his arms across his chest and stares darkly at his friends.

"You guys suck."

"You love us anyway." Raquel informs him.

^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^

"Nice to see you out of that archery range Red." Roy spins around when he hears Jade's voice. He was leaning against the railing at the bow of the boat, staring out to the sea in front of them. "Fresh air is a good thing."

"Chesh, I live on a boat. I get plenty of fresh air." Roy says to the darkness, waiting for her to come out. Sure enough, Jade appears, almost like she came out of thin air. "It almost sounded like you were concerned for me for a second."

"Eh, you've grown on me Red." Jade says, walking up besides him. "Got to say, I'm going to miss you a little bit when this is all over."

"Only a little?" Roy says grinning. Jade gives him a sly look. "So what's in Puerto Rico anyway? That is where you are going right? Cause, it's the last stop."

"If I told you, I would have to kill you." Jade says. Roy just smiles.

"It'll be a bit lonely without you here."

"You'll be fine Red."

"Oh, I know I will." Jade rolls her eyes. The two of them both fall silent for a few moments.

"How did you get so good at hiding? Nobody but me has noticed you, and I'm beginning to think that I only know you are here because you want me to."

"I had a lot of practice." Jade says weirdly. Roy realized that she sounded weird because she sounded sad when she said it.

"I'm guessing you don't want to talk about it?"

"No. There's no point, the past is the past."

"You know what they say, the past is the window to the future." Jade grins at that.

"They got that right." Jade says, sadness in her voice again. They are quiet again for a few moments. Waves splashed against the side of the boat, somewhere in the dark, people were laughing and a baby was crying. There was a light on up above in the Watchtower and in the dining room, but where they were, it was dark. And quiet.

"I'm never going to see you again after this am I?" Roy asks.

"Sorry Roy. You don't want to ever see me again." Jade tells him.

"And that is your decision to make?"

"It's what has to happen."

"Nothing has to happen."

"This does." Jade says softly. She looked over at him, and she wouldn't be honest with herself if she didn't admit that she liked him. He was one of the few people that could keep up with her. But if he only knew, he would hate her.

"I'm sorry." She whispers and runs away into the darkness.

"Jade!" Roy calls out after her, coming after her. She presses herself up close to the side of a crate. Roy runs right past her. She sits down on the ground and stares at the whiteness of the wall in front of her.

This was how Artemis felt. Jade didn't know how she did it and for the first time ever, she felt weak compared to her sister. Somehow her sister managed to have all those friends despite knowing that they would probably hate her if they knew the truth, if they knew who they really were. Jade had watched her sister interact with her friends. She appeared to not have a care in the world. She looked like the daughter of a billionaire hanging out with her friends.

Jade didn't know how she did it, but she wished she did. For the first time ever, she didn't want to be a theft. She just wanted to be Jade. Jade who could flirt with a cute guy and hangout with her sister without worries. Without wondering how it would affect the job at hand.

It could never happen though, because she is Jade Nguyen, daughter of Paula and Lawrence Crock, master thief who has a job. She can't worry about trivial, everyday matters. She pulled herself up off of the ground and then went off in search of a place to sleep.

^^^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^

Artemis walked out of John's office, rolling her shoulders, happy to have them free of their constraints. They were still a bit stiff, but they were healed.

Wally was the first to greet her sans bandages. She walked onto the deck and over to where they were serving breakfast. Grabbing a plate and loading it up with food, she didn't noticed Wally look up from his plate of food, smiling. When she was done he called out to her.

"Hey harpy!" He shouts. A few passengers look at him in annoyance, he promptly ignores them. "Got an open seat over here."

Barry had been eating with him, but had had to run when Hal texted him about some emergency in the lab. Artemis rolls her eyes, but makes her way across the deck and takes a seat. She begins to eat the hash browns on her plate.

"How does it feel?"  
"Pretty damn awesome." Artemis tells him.

"Good. I wouldn't want anything less." Artemis smiles at that.

"We got any plans today after work?" Artemis asks.

"Yep. We're playing truth or dare on the beach tonight after dinner." Wally tells her. "Megan already found the perfect spot."

"Of course she did. Is it from one of her handy dandy guidebooks?" Artemis asks, smiling good-naturedly.

"Do I even need to answer that?" Wally asks, the two of them laughing.

Neither of them noticed the girl standing off to the edge, looking at the two of them laughing with a sad expression.

"Good bye Artemis." She said quietly for only herself to hear before disappearing.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

"Okay, Raquel your turn?" Dick says.

"Alright, Artemis, truth or dare?" Raquel asks her. Artemis grins.

"Dare of course."  
"Of course." Raquel says laughing. "I dare you to run into the nearest store and shout, "Everyone, I love to eat mosquitoes" and then run out."

"Weak." Dick says.

"Hey, it was the best I could come up with, we can't all be Dick Grayson." Raquel counters. Kaldur smiles besides her.

"That would not be good." He says, laughing. "Even one more Dick Grayson would be terrible."

"Hey!" Dick says.

"Let's just hope Jason turns out to be nothing like you." Wally says patting his friend on the shoulder. Zatanna was even smiling slightly.

"You going to accept my dare or what?" Raquel asks Artemis.

"Alright, alright, I'm going." She says standing up. "You guys can't come though because then they would get suspicious."

"How will we know you've done it though?" Dick asks.

"Do I ever not do a dare?"  
"Well...no." Dick says.

"Alright then, I'll be back." Artemis tells her friends, taking off for the nearest store. She runs off of the beach and towards the town. Right outside the town, she runs smack into another person, sending herself flying into the ground. In the distance, she could hear other footsteps running this way. Artemis turned to face the other person on the ground besides her. The mask was askew, and Artemis was shocked to see who the person was.

"Jade?"

**A/N: I hope you guys liked it. Review and tell me your thoughts. Seventeen will be up...eventually. I'm really busy the next few days, but I'll try getting up as quickly as possible. Also check out my new Young Justice Story, the Life Waiting for You. Bye!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: One week, it's been one week since the ending of Young Justice. I miss the show a lot. Sorry I've been really busy and haven't had a lot of time to write recently. *Sigh* I really don't have much to say. **

**Disclaimer: Young Justice does not belong to me. **

Exits and Enters

"Jade?" Artemis asked in shock, staring at her sister. Another set of footsteps sounding louder.

"Shit." Jade said, standing up. She grabs Artemis arm, pulls her up, and begins to run, pulling Artemis along with her. "I'll explain later."

"What the hell Jade?" Artemis asks, hearing shouts behind them. Of course her sister would drag her into this. Of course.

"Less talking more running." Jade demands, pulling her down a back alley and then into another one. Jade pulls her behind a dumpster and they listen quietly as the sound of footsteps run past and then disappear. They remain quiet for a little while longer, Artemis wondering if her friends had realized she was gone yet.

"What the hell is this about Jade? Why are you here?" Artemis asks, the two of them standing up. Jade takes off the black ski mask, placing it in her bag, which Artemis could only assume also had whatever she had just stolen.

"Nice to see you two baby sister. How are all your little friends?" Jade asks with her usual mocking tone.

"Give it a rest Jade and answer one of my questions for once!" Artemis demands, angrily.

"You and your answers." Jade says rolling her eyes. "You're almost as bad as Roy." She quickly covers her mouth, realizing what she just said.

"How...how do you know Roy?" Artemis asks.

"Oh I know everything." Jade says, settling on the ominous act.

"That's bullshit. Were you on the boat? Cause its a little bit to much of a coincidence that you are here at the same time as the boat just like Corsica." Artemis says.

"Coincidences are a part of life, get used to it." Jade checks her watch. "As much as I've loved this talk, I have a boat to catch. I hope you know my same threat lingers."

"I won't talk as long as dad stays out of the loop." Artemis says, defeated.

"Good, but we both know dad is getting out sooner or later and then it's every Crock girl for herself."

"What do you mean? I haven't relied on you since I was eight."

"I mean, that you're going to abandon all those nice little friends of yours as soon as you get a chance. It's what we do as Crocks." Jade says, picturing Roy in her mind.

"Yeah, well haven't you heard, I'm practically a Queen now." Artemis walks away this time, leaving Jade alone. At the end of the alley she spins around to look to see if her sister is still there. She isn't.

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^

Two days later the S.S. Justice came into port in Miami. The teens helped carry bags off of the boat for the passengers, but by noon, they had the afternoon off. The eight of them sat on along the dock, their feet resting in the warm water, eating sandwiches provided by Augustus. Dick could barely sit still he was bouncing with so much energy.

"Dude, chill." Wally says as Dick taps his hands against the dock. The others all nod in agreement.

"Seriously Dick, why so hyper?" Raquel asks.

"It's not everyday you get to meet your new brother and visit with your best friend that you don't get to see a lot." Dick tells them. "You guys are going to love Babs."

"I feel like I already know her." Megan says, laying a hand on Dick's shoulder. Zatanna nods. Things were still a little cool between them, but they were working it out. Zatanna had realized that she was being a bit ridiculous and had stopped with the silent treatment but things still weren't the same between them.

"Thanks. I promised her that this will be the best week ever." Dick says excitedly, still tapping his fingers.

"Okay, dude, why don't you do some back flips or whatever to get rid of some of that excess energy. Geesh, you're even worse then me right now." Wally says, earning an elbow in the shoulder from Artemis.

Dick rolls his eyes, but does stop tapping finally. Everyone finishes their sandwiches and then get up and walk across the dock back towards the boat.

"Dick!" Everyone turned to see a red haired girl smiling at them and approaching. Dick walks over and greets her with a hug and a big smile. He walks back over to the group followed by Barbara.

"Everyone, this is my friend Barbara Gordon." Dick says. "Barbara, this is Wally, Megan, Conner, Kaldur, Artemis, Raquel, and Zatanna."

Megan approaches the girl first, hugging the fellow red head. "Oh my gosh, I feel like I already know you from all the stories Dick has told us. It's so nice to finally meet you." Barbara looks a little shocked about being hugged, but she goes with it.

"Nice to meet you two Megan. I've heard all about the park incident." Barbara says with a smile. Everyone laughs good naturally, even Megan. Barbara looks over at Zatanna, and gives Dick a sly grin.

"You're Zatanna right? You're even prettier then Dick told me." Barbara says smiling. Dick turns bright red and Zatanna laughs nervously.

"Uh...thanks?" Zatanna says.

"Don't mention it." Barbara says with a smile. Artemis and Wally exchange a look, this girl was like a female version of Dick. This was going to be one interesting week.

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^

A short while after that, Barbara left to go check out her room with her dad and Bruce called Dick up to the deck to meet Jason. He left, nervously drumming his fingers against his thigh.

"Hey Dick!" Artemis called out after him. He spun around, a questioning look on his face. "Get traught!"

"Stay Whelmed." Megan shouted encouragingly.

"Feel the aster." Conner says as well.

Dick grins at all of us, before disappearing into the crowd. The seven remaining teens began working their way through the crowds as well to get back up onto the ship.

"So where are we going now?" Wally asks Megan.

"Uncle John said that we are going around the Florida Keys." Megan replies.

"Sounds like fun." Artemis replies.

"Any place we go would be considered as fun." Zatanna says with a grin. The seven of them all laugh. They didn't notice Dinah approaching them until she was speaking.

"Shouldn't all of you be working on that assignment I gave you all yesterday?" Dinah asks them.

"Aw, come on Dinah." Wally protests.

"Nope, I want you all in your rooms working on your work, now." Dinah insists. They all groan, but they all know not to go against her. They all walk up the gangplank and then disappear below deck.

^^^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Two hours later, Artemis was finally done. She emerged from her room and walked down the hall towards the elevator. The elevator doors open and she steps in. At the last second, a hand appears, stopping the doors from completely closing. A boy with black hair Artemis had never seen before stepped in. Jason. The boy looks Artemis up and down.

"Eyes up here buddy." Artemis tells him. They boy's brown eyes look up at Artemis' face.

"Sorry." He says, not sounding very apologetic. "I'm Jason Todd, but I'm assuming you know my name."

"Artemis Crock, one of Dick's friends." Artemis replies.

"Ah, so you are close with my new "brother". Lucky me since I'm supposed to stay close to Grayson for the first few days on here." Jason says, Artemis rolls her eyes. The elevator arrives on the main level and the two of them step out.

"Yeah, and how's that working out?" Artemis asks him. He shrugs.

"I told Grayson I was going to the bathroom and then I snuck out. I don't need a babysitter." Jason says.

"So are you just going to wonder around the boat aimlessly?" Artemis asks, stepping out onto the deck. Jason follows.

"That's the plan. I figure there has got to be something fun to do around here." Jason says.

"It's a cruise ship, there is always something to do." Artemis tells him.

"You know, I still need a tour..." Jason trails off as Artemis rolls her eyes.

"I'm going to the archery range. I haven't been able to shoot anything in over a week, nothing is stopping me from hanging around in the range for the next several hours." Artemis explains.

"Violent." Jason simply replies.

"I'll see you around Newbie. You should find Dick though, he's probably looking for you." Artemis tells him.

"Yeah...probably not."

"Hey, he's been excited about you showing up here, the least you could do is try to get to know him and Bruce. They are both really nice. There are worst places you could end up." Artemis tells him, turning away.

"Fine." Artemis spins around again. "You're right."

"I'm always right. Hey, we all hang out on the starboard deck after dinner every night. You should come to meet everyone, make friends."

"Maybe."

Artemis smiles; the guy reminded her a lot of herself when she first arrived. She hadn't realized until then just how much she had changed since coming on the boat. She had finally learned to trust and open up to people. She hoped that Jason could eventually do the same because everyone deserves to have friends.

"See you around." Artemis says, turning back to the range.

"See ya."

Artemis walks across the ship to the archery range. She had wanted to talk to Roy since her encounter with Jade in Puerto Rico. Something didn't seem right to her. She walked through the sliding doors, and sure enough Roy was they're helping a small boy with black hair hold the bow, his parents stood off to the side watching and taking pictures.

"Good, place your hand right there Tim." Roy instructs the boy. The boy bit his lip in concentration as he pulled back an arrow and released. Artemis watched as the arrow hit the very edge of the target. Tim smiled widely and his parents clapped.

"Good job. I'll see you in here tomorrow to do some more?" Roy asks.

"Of course." Tim says excitedly. He places the bow on a small table and runs over to join his parents. His dad takes out a ten-dollar bill and hands it to Roy as he passes. The family smiles at Artemis as they walk past her and out the door. Roy puts the money in his pocket.

"Whatcha you here Arty?" Roy asks with a grin. Artemis picks up her favorite bow and grabs a few arrows.

"I'm here to shoot things. Why else would I be here?" Artemis asks him with a grin.

"I don't know. I think a girl left a bottle of nail polish somewhere if you wanted to do your nails." Roy responds, grinning as well. He grabs a bow as well. They walk over to two targets besides each other. Artemis shoots first, bulls' eye.

"That's so me." Artemis replies blandly. Roy notches an arrow and gets ready to release it. "So, how do you know Jade?"

Roy's arrow goes far to the left, hitting the side of Artemis' target. Roy stares at Artemis, flabbergasted. Artemis calmly notches another arrow and shoots another bull's eye.

"How...How do you know Jade?" Roy asks.

"I shared a room with her for eight years, the better question is how do you know her?" Artemis asks, putting down the bow.

"What? Jade...Jade is your sister? The one who left you?" Roy asks, putting down his bow as well.

"Yes. Now, how the hell do you know her?" Artemis asks.

"She...I...she was staying on the boat and I found her." Roy admits.

"ROY! She's a criminal. You let a criminal stay on the boat. I can't believe you didn't tell Ollie? What if somebody finds out?" Artemis shouts at him.

"She didn't harm anybody." Roy fires back.

"She's still a criminal." Artemis replies.

"Why do you hate your sister so much?" Roy yells.

"Why shouldn't I hate her? She left me! You know what the real surprise is? I don't hate her. I really should, but I don't." Artemis responds, shouting.

"You...what?"

"Jade...for the longest time it was her and me against the world. When mom and dad would be fighting, she would let me climb into her bed and she would hug me and brush my hair to help me get to sleep. She would walk me to school everyday to make sure that I wasn't kidnapped. Jade was my protector and my best friend. And then...and then she left. She left and didn't even tell me where she was going. Didn't leave a way for me to get in contact with her. I hadn't seen her in eight years until I saw her in Corsica."

"Corsica?" Roy asks.

"She was the thief. I let her go so she wouldn't tell our dad where I am like she threatened. She threatened to ruin everything that I've worked for, my safety to extend her own means. I should hate her and never ever want to speak to her, but I don't. I just...I want my sister back." Artemis says. Roy approached her and wrapped his arms around her hugging her. "Why don't I hate her?"

**A/N: So I have a five-day weekend coming up, so hopefully I'll get a bunch of chapters up. I hoped you guys liked Jason and Barbara. I totally agree with everyone who said that Jason and Artemis should be friends; they would totally be great friends. Review and tell your thoughts. Thanks for reading. **


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: What's up everybody? Happy almost Easter to everyone who celebrates it! I hope you guys like this chapter. Thank you everyone for the awesome reviews! My friends get really confused when I smile really widely when I read them on my phone. This isn't a really dramatic or action packed chapter, just some cute team moments and a set up for future chapters to come... Muhaha!**

**Disclaimer: Young Justice, despite all my wishes, does not belong to me.**

Downtime

"For the last time Baywatch, pickles are not a vegetable!" Artemis says.

"They are! They are just cucumbers." Wally argues. The other six that were also out on the deck were watching them curiously. Barbara, who they had run into at dinner and invited to join them, watched with confusion.

"Do they do this all the time?" Barbara asks, quietly.

"Pretty much." Kaldur replies.

"We are waiting for them to just kiss already." Zatanna whispers back.

"Them?" Barbara asks, her eyebrows raised.

"It's a matter of time. She gets jealous when he talks to other girls. He can't stand it when she is with other guys." Megan explains.

"Aw." Barbara replies. The six of them, minus Dick, turn back to watch the two of them.

"The cucumbers have been soaked in vinegar. There by, loosing any nutritional value." Artemis states.

"You can't prove that."

"I can look it up on the internet."

"Do it. You'll see that I am right." Artemis is about to reply, when Dick clears his throat behind them. All eight of them spin around to see Dick standing just outside of their circle of chairs with a new boy besides him. Jason. The two of them almost could have passed for brothers, except for Dick's blue eyes and Jason's brown. Plus, Jason was taller then Dick and his hair was longer and more unruly.

"If you guys are done with your foreplay," Dick begins, earning him glares from both Wally and Artemis, "I would like to introduce you guys to my new brother, Jason."

Everyone says some form of greeting to the new boy. Jason simply nods his head, surveying the group.

"You already know Barbara, but this is Kaldur, Conner, Raquel, Zatanna, Wally, Megan, and Artemis." Dick says.

"We've met." Artemis replies. Jason smiles wickedly.

"Yep. She was the one who chastised me into going back instead of wondering around the ship aimlessly." Jason explains to a confused looking Dick. He nods, sending Artemis a grateful smile as the two of them lounge chairs up into the circle. Jason pulls his up next to Barbara, the two of them smiling at each other.

"So Barbara, you have any embarrassing stories of Dick that you can tell us?" Raquel asks.

"Oh, I have plenty. This one time in eighth grade..." Barbara starts, but is quickly interrupted by Dick.

"Alright, nobody wants to hear that story."

"I do." Jason says, smiling.

"Me too. I could always use some good leverage over Boy Wonder over here." Wally states.

Barbara and Dick exchange looks. Dick giving his friend a pleading look while Barbara just smiles.

"I'll tell you guys sometime this week when Dickie Bird over here to listen." Barbara assures them.

"Why did I ever think having you here was a good idea?" Dick asks, causing everyone to laugh.

"So..." Jason starts. "Where you guys all from? I feel like I should know this if I'm going to be joining the crew and all. Plus, Babs is probably curious." Jason nudges the girl next to him, who blushes, which did not go unnoticed by the other girls of the group.

"Chicago." Megan says cheerfully.

"Originally Metropolis, but I'm usually in Smallville these days." Conner says.

"Dakota City." Raquel tells him.

"Atlantis." Kaldur says. When Jason looks at him in confusion, he explains more. "It's a small island off the coast of Georgia."

"New York City." Zatanna tells the new boy.

"Central City." Wally says.

"Star City." Artemis replies.

"Really? You look really familiar, you ever been in Gotham?" Jason asks her. Everyone turns and looks at her.

"Yeah. I moved to Gotham when I was six." Artemis says. Her friends knew that she had lived in Gotham for a little while before moving back to Star.

"Where did you go to school?" Jason asks.

"Gotham North Elementary School." Jason snaps his fingers.

"That's it. You're Artemis Crock, you were in my fifth grade class." Jason informs her. Realization dawns on her.

"No way, your that Jason." Artemis says.

"What do you mean by that Jason?" Conner asks, voicing everyone else's confusion.

"Well I went to Gotham North before getting the scholarship to go to Gotham Academy." Jason starts.

"And he stole my lunch in fifth grade." Artemis says indignantly. The whole group begins to laugh.

"Wow Jason, I never took you as the bullying type." Barbara jokes.

"She didn't finish." Jason explains. "She left out the part about how after she found out it was me, she punched me in the face in front of the whole cafeteria. I had a black eye for two weeks."

"The two day suspension was totally worth it." Artemis admits, causing everyone to laugh all over again.

"Wow, there is a whole other side to you Blondie." Wally comments, laughing. Artemis reaches over and shoves him off of his seat onto the ground, causing everyone to laugh all over again. Once the laughter had died down and everyone had composed themselves, they were able to have an actual conversation again. Of course, they would usually end up laughing all over again. Over all, it was a pretty great night.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

Artemis sat down next to Ollie and Dinah at the table for breakfast the next morning. Ollie looked up from the sheet of paper he had been reading and Dinah did the same.

"Wow, not even married and you guys have the most domestic relationship I know." Artemis comments, taking a bite out of her toast.

"I'm taking that as a compliment missy." Oliver replies, resting the papers on the table. Dinah smiles at her.

"There is nothing wrong with being domestic." Dinah notes.

"I know, I just like teasing you guys." Artemis says smiling. Barbara walks by the table and Artemis smiles and waves at the girl. Dinah and Oliver smile at each other.

"So how is everything? Do I need to beat anyone up for you?" Oliver asks, earning him a laugh from the girl.

"Everything is actually surprisingly great Oliver. I'm...I'm really happy. I'm really happy that you guys brought me here. Thank you." Artemis tells them.

"Anything for you sweetie." Dinah assures her, smiling. "I've noticed you and Roy getting along well as well lately."

"Yeah, we've reached an understanding finally. I mean, I don't like the way it came about, but I much prefer getting along with him then fighting with him constantly." Artemis admits. The two adults laugh.

"I like it better that way too." Dinah tells Artemis, causing the younger girl to grin.

"You feel like sailing later today?" Oliver asks her.  
"Sailing?"  
"Yeah. We're coming into port in about three hours. After you guys work, we were thinking of giving all of you guys a chance to take a boat out for an hour or two. You guys can sail and have dinner on the beach." Dinah says.

"Wow, that sounds great." Artemis says. "But, I've never sailed before."

"Oh, don't worry, you're a smart girl, you'll get the hang of it in no time." Oliver assures her. She smiles widely.

"Hey Blondie, the new guy challenged me to an eating contest out on the bow, you coming?" Wally asks, materializing out of nowhere. Artemis looks down at her mostly empty plate and then looks at the older couple across from her. They nod and smile.

"Course I am Baywatch. You better put the new guy in his place." Artemis says, getting up and following after the boy. Oliver and Dinah exchange happy smiles as they watch the girl run off.

"She is so much...lighter." Dinah says, searching for the proper adjective. "So different then the dower thirteen year old girl who sat across from me the first day I met her."

"Is it wrong that I feel proud of her? I mean, I'm not her father or anything...yet..." Oliver trails off, earning himself a kiss from his fiancé.

"You're as much of a father as that girl has. You can be as proud as you want. I am too."

"I love seeing her happy."

"Me too Ollie, me too."

^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^

"Warden, the prisoners are rioting down in the cafeteria." A breathless guard reports breathlessly. The warden frowns, but clicks on the comm unit.

"Lock down all exits, any extra guards head to the cafeteria. Do not let anyone escape." The warden says, before turning back to the guard in front of him. With two of his fingers, he motions to the three other guards in his office to go check it out.

"How did this happen?" The warden asks angrily.

"I don't really know. I was walking down the hallway when I saw the commotion forming. I ran up hear as quickly as possible." The blonde haired guard says weakly. The warden peers over the side of his desk, noticing the blood soaking the pant leg of the guard.

"Your leg." The warden says simply.

"I...was attacked. I got away, but somehow the prisoner had a knife." The guard explains.

"Well take a seat man. I don't need you fainting on me." The warden says. He gets up from his desk and begins pacing. "This is bad. This is Belle Reve, it's supposed to be one of the most secure prisons."

"I'm sure it'll be alright sir." The guard assures him.

"Maybe...Hopefully." The warden stops pacing. "I'm going to go check on it. Stay here, I'll send up a doctor."

"Thank you sir." The guard says gratefully. The warden nods and steps out of his office.

Two hours later, the warden returned to his office. They had managed to stop the riot and no prisoners escaped. The warden took that as a success. He collapsed into his chair, exhausted. The blonde haired guard from before was gone, but he didn't think anything of it. That was until he heard the report that a guard was found tied up in a closet. And then when a head count was taken, a prisoner was missing. His fears were confirmed when the doctor reported that when he arrived in the warden's office, nobody was there.

"I want face recognition, video feeds, anything and everything to identify and find this man. He is a dangerous man. We can't let this go public." The warden shouts to a group of soldiers in front of his desk.

"Sir, shouldn't we let somebody know, like the potential people he could go after?" A guard asks. The warden sighs.

"You, get on that." He points to the guard who nods and scurries out of the room. The warden sighs, this was a disaster.

^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^

He peeled off the guard uniform and pulled on a blue shirt and black pants from the storage he had stashed away in the town for when he would escape. He smiled maliciously as he surveyed his...toys in his bag. Lying there was his white mask. Everything was going perfectly. The only question now was which of his three girls was he going to be paying a visit to first.

**A/N: And the plot thickens. Sorry for such a short chapter. I didn't really know what else to say for this chapter. Review and tell me what you thought. Thanks for reading. Hopefully the next chapter will be out soon. **


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I'm back! And it's time for your next installment of...S.S. Justice!**

**I wasn't really clear last chapter about Jason's age and I'm really sorry, he's fifteen, almost sixteen, a few months younger then the others since they are all sixteen in this. Sorry that I didn't mention that earlier. Read and Review, tell me your thoughts. I love to hear from you guys. If you have any sort of suggestion for this story, feel free to tell me. Anyone have an idea what is going to happen with Artemis' dear old dad? I promise that it will be interesting. **

**Disclaimer: Young Justice will never belong to me, this is just for fun and to show my love of the show!:)**

Finally

Wally stood besides Conner and Dick, looking over the edge of the boat at the people below. The three of them had just gotten off of work. Their job of the day had unfortunately been cleaning duty, Wally's least favorite job. He could just barely keep his room in order and they wanted him to clean an entire cruise ship? It was done now though, leaving him plenty of time to get excited for sailing.

"Guys, this is going to be so much fun." Wally tells his friends for the millionth time since they had got off work twenty minutes ago.

"We know." Conner says.

"Yeah. Why are you so excited about this again? I mean I enjoy sailing but clearly not as much as you." Dick comments.

"Um...well...It's Artemis' first time so it'll be fun to see her fail at something for once." Wally lies. Dick and Conner exchange a look. "What, she's like good at everything."

"That is true. But I'm pretty sure there is something else to it." Conner says, grinning.

"The wind, the gentle lull of the waves, the sunset, Artemis in a bikini." Dick trails off. Wally realizes what his friends were saying.

"No way! What are you guys talking about? Artemis and I are just friends." Wally insists. Of course, they didn't need to know how he would like to change that status. Somehow in the two months that he had known her, she had grown on him. He couldn't imagine what he had done before he met her. She was a part of his life, almost like his left arm.

"Sure." Conner simply responds and Dick cackles.

"You guys are really annoying you know that?" Wally states.

"Really? Then why are you still hanging out with us? Hey, maybe we should go find Artemis." Dick asks. Wally's cheeks turn almost as red as his hair. He spins around and walks away.

"He is definitely feeling pretty chalant." Dick comments.

"Chalant? Do I even want to ask?" Conner asks his shorter friend.

"Zatanna and I came up with it, opposite of nonchalant." Dick says sadly.

"Dude, have you still not fixed things with her yet?"

"What is there to fix, everything is fine." Conner rolls his eyes.

"You don't honestly believe that do you?"

"No..."

"Good, I guess you are not such an idiot about girls." Conner says with a smile. "You know, you and Zatanna are a lot like Wally and Artemis. You guys are always hanging out with each other and she doesn't like it when you ask if you think you can get another girl's phone number..." Conner trails off as Dick face palms.

"She was annoyed with me because I wanted to get the other girl's phone number."

"Yeah, I mean you two were practically about to start dating and then you did that."

"I need to go talk to her, like right now. You alright here Con?" Dick asks.

"Yeah. I'll probably go see how Megan and Kaldur are doing with those towels." Conner says with a smile. "By the way, I'm pretty sure Zatanna, Jason, and Artemis were working the dining shift."

With that, Dick took off. Conner watched his friend go, a rare smile on his face. He never once in his life thought he was going to be the one giving relationship advice. Spotting familiar red hair besides short blonde hair, Conner walked away from the spot. He would know later how successful Dick was.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Zatanna!" Artemis looked up from the table she was clearing to see Dick running into the dining hall. A few heads turned, but most of the passengers were absorbed in their own conversations and didn't notice. Artemis spotted Zatanna look up from where she was taking the order of an elderly couple. She looked at Dick in confusion, but finished getting her order.

Artemis looked over to where Jason was talking with Barbara. She walked over and joined them; the two of them were also watching the exchange going on.

"Shouldn't you be working?" Artemis asks Jason. He looks up with a grin.

"Shouldn't you?"

"Touché." The three of them watch as Dick approaches Zatanna. She says hi and gives a small smile before turning to walk towards kitchen, Dick follows.

"Finally." Barbara states. "All he ever talks about is Zatanna, it's about time he fixes things with her." Artemis nods in agreement.

"Guys, it wasn't entirely his fault." Jason says. Artemis looks over at him in confusion. "What? Barbara caught me up. But that isn't the point, its not like he and Zatanna were dating so it's not a big deal."

"They flirted with each other constantly and totally had it for each other, they were practically dating." Artemis argues.

"Still. They didn't ever say they were dating." Jason inserts.

"Guys, they are disappearing into the kitchen. Damn it." Barbara says, the other two look at her. "What? I wanted to see them kiss finally." Jason and Artemis laugh at that and Barbara quickly joins.

"I'm sure we'll hear about it from Zatanna later." Artemis says, turning to Barbara. "You should go do something fun. As for us," Artemis grabs Jason. "We have work to do."

"Hey, what's that for?" Jason asks incredulously.

"We have a job. And despite what you clearly think, your job is not to flirt with Barbara." Artemis tells him, smiling when the boy's cheeks turned slightly red.

"Whatever." He says trying to brush it off and roll his eyes. "Think what you want."

Artemis watches as he walks away, trying hard not to laugh.

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^

"And then we kissed!" Zatanna announces. The other four girls cheer and smile at their friend. Megan squeals and hugs the ebony haired girl.

"Finally." Raquel proclaims. "Hey, you think they need any help?" The five girls turn to where the guys were wrestling with trying to pull up two small sailboats onto the sand.

"Why would we do that? It's so much more fun to see them struggle." Barbara says with a mischievous grin. She pulls out her cell phone and takes a picture of Dick tripping over his own feet and landing face first on the beach.

"Do I even want to know what that is for?" Artemis asks.

"Leverage." Barbara announces.

"You two are creepy similar sometimes." Megan tells her.

"I guess that is just what happens when you've known someone for so long." Barbara says shrugging, taking a picture of a confused Jason staring at the sailboat, trying to figure out how to rig (1) it properly.

Finally after watching the boys struggle for another ten minutes, the girls got up to help them finish getting the two boats ready. Artemis was pretty clueless though, just doing whatever Kaldur told her to do. He was the expert boat person having grown up on an island and everything. When the boats were finally done, they decided who was going in which boat.

"Alright, so Conner, Megan, Kaldur, Raquel, and Jason will be in one boat and Barbara, Zatanna, Wally, Artemis, and I will be in another. We all happy with that?" Dick asks. Everyone else nods. Artemis looks to her right, spotting the giant cruise ship in the setting sun. "We should only go out for like an hour so that we can get back before dark."

"Yes. It is not wise to sail in the nighttime with out the proper safety precautions." Kaldur insists.

"Alright, thanks Kal." Dick says clamping his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Let's head out."

The eight of them all put on lifejackets and got into their boats. Dick went right ahead to steer his boat and Kaldur steered his. Artemis found a spot in the bow of the boat; she stuck her feet in the water, enjoying the wind in her hair.

"It's nice isn't it?" Wally asks, sitting besides her. Dick stood at the helm with Zatanna besides him, ready to take over. Apparently they had all taken lessons in Antigua before she joined them. Barbara wasn't very far from them, laughing at something Zatanna said. Across the water, they spotted their friends on the other boat.

"Yeah. I've never done this before, but its pretty fun." Artemis says with a smile.

"I aim to please." Wally says, earning him an eye roll from Artemis. They sat together in silence for a little while, laughing whenever a wave got high enough to get the two of them wet.

"You're it." Artemis says, kicking water at Wally. He laughs and does the same to Artemis. They did that for a few minutes. Artemis looked back towards the stern of the boat where Zatanna was steering. "You think they'll let me drive?"

"Its steer and I'm sure they would. Come on." Wally extends a hand to Artemis to help pull her up. She smiles and accepts and together the two of the walk back towards the back of the boat.

^^^^^^^^Line break^^^^^^^^

"Dick, I dare you to strip and go swimming." Barbara says to Dick. Everyone laughs, as Dick's face turns red.

"Really Babs? What happened to our eight year long friendship?" Dick asks.

"Sorry. Now strip." Barbara says. Dick sighs and motions for everyone to turn around. They turn around when they hear Dick running towards the water. There is a splash in the dark and then a yelp.

"Why is it cold?" He asks, causing them all to laugh again. Behind them were the lights from the town, to their right was the lights from the boat, and above them were the stars, but on the beach, it was pretty dark. No one could see Wally's hand inching towards Artemis' across the sand, trying to work up his courage.

Dick ran out of the water, tugging on his boxers and shorts as he ran. He throws his t-shirt on and rejoins the group.

"That was terrible. Why are you so..." Dick says to Barbara, trailing off.

"Like you?" Conner asks.

"Similar to yourself." Kaldur asks.

"Awesome?" Raquel asks, high-fiving Barbara.

"Okay, my turn. Jason, truth or dare?" Dick asks his adopted brother.

"Truth." Jason says, surprising all of them who had been almost certain that he would choose dare.

"Um...okay...I'll go easy on you since your my brother now and all and I want you to be feeling the aster and all." Dick begins, thinking. "First impressions, on each of us, including Barbara."

Jason nods. "Okay, Conner, I thought you were a really tall guy with zero personality. Kaldur, I thought you looked like the peacekeeper of the group, I was right about that. Raquel, my first thought about you was that you reminded me of this girl I knew from Gotham North, I didn't like her so I wasn't sure what to think about you."

"Megan, you seemed a bit like a control freak, but you're actually alright. Zatanna, my first thought was that you were kind of hot. Wally, I thought you looked like a total nerd." Artemis laughs at that while Wally glared at her. "Artemis, my first thought was that you looked really familiar. Dick, you seemed like a goody two shoes and Barbara, I thought you were some really smart snobby girl, like everyone else at Gotham Academy. There."

Everyone was quiet for a moment.

"Dude, you're not trying to put the moves on my girlfriend are you?" Dick asks smiling and everyone laughs. Jason who looked like he had been holding his breath, exhaled and smiled at the group.

"Okay my turn." Jason says with a wicked grin. "Artemis, truth or dare?"

"Dare." Artemis answered just like everyone knew she would. They had grown accustomed to her only doing truth when they made her and even then, she was as vague as possible with her answers.

"Oh, you're going to love this." Jason grins at her. "Kiss Wally."

"What?" Both teens asked in shock.

"Wait, you want me to kiss...him?" Artemis asks Jason. He nods in response. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Hey, I'll let you know that I am a very good kisser." Wally insists. Artemis sighs in annoyance.

"That is not the point Wallace." Artemis responds.

"Are you passing Artemis?" Raquel asks, raising her eyebrows.

"Um...well...no." Artemis admits, knowing that if she didn't kiss Wally they could ask her anything and she still... she didn't want them to know. It was stupid she knew it, but she still had the irrational fear that they were going to reject her as soon as they knew the truth. They would pity her too and everything would be different. She liked things just the way they were. Things were always changing in her life, for once could they just stay the same? Just for a little while?

"Alright, pucker up you two." Zatanna says with a grin. Artemis shoots a glare at her, but she turns to Wally. His face betrayed no emotion as he leaned over to kiss her. Artemis did the same, their lips meeting in the middle.

The kiss...it was...amazing. That was the only word that Artemis could use to describe it. Before she knew it, her arms were going around his neck and his arms were going around her waist to pull her closer. They continued to kiss, oblivious to all the others. They came up for air, finally noticing the smug looks of their friends.

"Guys I said kiss, not make out." Jason comments.

"What can I say, I have that affect on girls." Wally says with a grin. Artemis punches him in the shoulder. They go back to the game, pretending that nothing had happen. But in the darkness, nobody noticed the entwined hands of the red and blonde haired teens.

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

He knew his youngest daughter visited his wife in prison. He doubted that she had stopped. He waited behind the crates, waiting for his opportunity to get in. He gave a malicious grin, knowing his wife was going to be in for quite the surprise.

**A/N: They finally kissed! Yeah! Review and tell me your thoughts. Thanks for reading!**

**1. Rigging means setting up the boat, just in case somebody didn't know that.**

**At the helm means that they are the ones steering the boat. Any other sailing terms you weren't sure about, feel free to ask me. **


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: You guys are the best. I love reading your reviews. You guys are awesome! *Virtual Hug*. So I've reached chapter twenty. I'm not sure how many more chapters will be, but it seems our voyage is drawing to an end. I think I'll do probably like eight-ten more chapters. I'm not certain though. I have two other ideas for stories to do too. One is a Victorian England Steampunk version of the original team and the other is an OC story that you guys could submit OC's too for me to use. Which one would you guys prefer? This story will still be my number one priority though if I do start another one or two. Okay, Read and Review!**

**Disclaimer: Young Justice belongs to Warner Brothers. **

The Storm

"So, that kiss the other night." Zatanna comments. It had been two days since the kiss. Artemis had spent the evening looking at wedding dress magazines with Dinah so she had missed the usual deck meeting. She knows she would have had to talk about it if she had been there last night though.

"Jason dared us too. It was nothing." Artemis responds, shrugging, trying to sound nonchalant. She focused on the water out in front of her, making sure nobody was in any danger of drowning.

"Artemis, that was not nothing. You can't deny it, that was something special, we both know it." Zatanna tells her friend. Artemis rolls her eyes.

"Come on Zee. This is Wally we are talking about."

"Yes, Wally who is obviously crazy for you."

"You don't honestly think that?"

"'Mis, I've known him longer then you, thereby I know when he is crazy about a girl and he is clearly crazy about you."

"That does not make a lot of sense." Artemis replies. Zatanna rolls her eyes.

"You are trying to sound nonchalant, but I promise you, you are coming off a lot more on the chalant side."

"You've been hanging out way to much with Dick."

"He is my boyfriend." Zatanna responds.

"You guys decided to make it official?"

"Yep. After he kissed me in front of the whole kitchen staff. My father heard and of course, he was not happy." Zatanna says with a huge dopey grin on her face. Artemis smiles, happy for two of her best friends.

"How did the all powerful Zatara take it?"

"Not well. But he's getting better. I think it helps that he likes Dick, he just doesn't like that I'm growing up. He's sappy and protective like that, but I love my dad and I get it. I mean I'm all he really has left." Zatanna says sadly. Artemis reassuring places her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"I get it Zee." Artemis smiles at her friend. Zatanna returns the smile before turning to face the pool, blowing her whistle.

"Hey! No roughhousing!" She shouts at some rowdy kids. Artemis laughs as she watches her friend get up off of her chair and walk over to the boys, not happy at all. Artemis thought about her father for just a second, wondering how he would react if she had a boyfriend. He would hate Wally she knew that for sure. It was sad though; she could not imagine her father's reaction at all. He probably wouldn't care at all. Thieves have bigger things on their minds then something as trivial as their daughter's boyfriend, not that she even had one. Though there is a certain red head she wouldn't mind dating, and it was not Roy.

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^

"Hey Roy!" Roy looked up from the bow he had been cleaning to see Wally and Dick walking into the range. He hadn't really talked to his old friends since he had tried to get them to spy on Artemis. Thinking about it now made him realize what a jerk he had been.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Roy asks them.

"Nothing much. We were wondering if you wanted to come jet skiing with us later today?" Wally asks.

"Jet skiing? We aren't even in port yet." Roy replies.

"Bruce said we should be landing in an hour. He wants us to go with Arthur and help lead a Jet Ski tour around the island. Conner can't go because he is taking Megan on a date and neither can Zatanna because she promised to help her father set up for his show tonight, but everyone else is going." Wally says.

"You have any archery stuff this afternoon?" Dick asks.

"Nope. I just finished up a lesson and I have nothing planned for the rest of the afternoon." Roy tells them.

"Good! You can come then!" Wally responds excitedly.

"You guys sure you want me there?" Roy asks.

"Course we do. You're our friend, no matter what happens. No matter how much of an asshole you can be at times. " Dick tells him with a smile. Roy returns the smile.

"Sure sounds like it'll be fun. I haven't had a chance to go on land in a while. I heard you guys went sailing at the last island, that sounds like fun."

"Oh yeah, it was fun, not just because of the sailing though for Wally." Dick responds with a cackle. Wally turns almost as red as his hair as he punches Dick in the shoulder. Roy looks at his two friends confused, resting the now clean bow on the stand.

"What are you talking about Dick?" Roy asks him.

"Nothing." Wally says at the same time Dick replies, "Wally and Artemis' make out session on the beach."

Roy pauses for a second, processing what he just learned. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He knew he shouldn't have an opinion, but honestly, something in him felt unsettled. Artemis was practically his sister and he wasn't sure how he felt about her kissing someone.

"You know Artemis is like my sister now." Roy starts.

"You're in it now Wally, protective brother is almost as bad as protective father." Dick says with a cackle. Wally turns bright red again and punches Dick in the shoulder again.

"Jason dared us too!" Wally says in protest.

"He dared you two to kiss, not suck out each other's tonsils." Dick responds.

"Okay, I don't want to know any sort of details. Just know, that if she gets hurt, I'm obligated to punch you in the face West." Roy simply says, grabbing another bow to clean. Wally gulps.

"You guys are making a big deal over nothing, it was one kiss." Wally says in protest.

"Stop lying buddy." Dick says patting his friend on the back. "We all know that you two want more then just one kiss."

"Alright, I'm ending this conversation." Roy states officially disturbed.

"What? Are you no longer turbed?" Dick asks, cackling. Wally and Roy just groan in response, used to Dick's butchering of the English language by now.

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^

"Have you ever ridden one of these before?" Wally asked a confused looking Artemis staring at the Jet Ski.

"No, but I can figure it out." She insists.

"You can just ride with me if you want." Wally says with a smile. Artemis rolls her eyes.

"I'll figure it out Baywatch, don't need to worry about me. Besides, it looks simple enough." Artemis responds. The two of them walk away from the jet skis, over to where Arthur was giving a lecture on proper safety measures to a group of twenty passengers. Barbara stood besides her father, but she smiled at all of her new friends and gave a little wave. Wally was going to miss the red head. They were heading back to Miami tomorrow and she was leaving once they arrived. Dick was already planning for her to come and spend the summer with them even though that was still several months away.

Roy stood off to the side, talking with Kaldur quietly. He kept giving him odd looks and Wally wasn't sure of how to make of them yet. On one hand, he was happy that Roy and Artemis seemed to have become really close, on the other, he now had a protective brother type person to deal with if he finally worked up his nerves to just ask Artemis out already.

"Any questions?" Arthur asks, finishing his speech. Nobody says anything. "Alright good. You can grab a life jacket from Dick, Jason, or Raquel and then go pick a Jet Ski. All children under ten must ride with an adult."

"Here." Wally said handing over the spare life jacket he had been holding.

"Thanks." Artemis said accepting it with a smile. Okay, now or never.

"So...the other night." Wally starts lamely.

"Yeah. Zatanna has been giving me so much crap about it and don't even let me start on Megan. She's already planning our wedding. It was only one kiss though, I keep trying to tell them." Artemis says. Wally deflated.

"Yeah. One kiss. Dick talks nonstop about it. It was dare though as I keep telling him." Wally responds blandly.

"Exactly. It's not like we kissed out of free will." Ouch, what a blow to self-esteem. Wally just nods, miserably.

"Well, it's not like somebody was holding a gun to your head forcing you too." Wally mumbles. Artemis gives him a confused look. "I'm going to go see if they need any help." Without another word, Wally walks away to go join Dick, Jason, and Raquel.

Artemis watches him walk away in confusion. Did she say something? Was it something about the kiss? She thought that he felt that way. She wanted it to be something more, but he had never made any sort of move before that. She sighed, confused.

"He totally wants you." Barbara says, standing besides Artemis.

"Really? I don't know." Artemis replies.

"Your clueless." Barbara responds, shaking her head.

"If I am clueless, then you are too. Jason totally likes you and I've barely known him for a week and I can tell." Artemis responds.

"Jason and I are just friends."

"Same with Wally and I."

"Oh really? Friends don't make out with each other."

"It was a dare!"

"The dare was a kiss Artemis, that was way more."

Artemis deflates. They were all right. She wanted it to be more, but she had no clue what to say. She had had one boyfriend in her life and it was Cameron freaking Mahkent, the guy who threatened to hand her over to her dad. She had a bad track record for sure and she didn't want to mess up what she had with Wally because she really liked what they had.

"Artemis, you can't let fear rule your life." Barbara tells her, almost as if she was reading the other girl's thoughts. "Sometimes you just need to go for it and forget the risks."

"But..." Barbara interrupts her.

"No buts. You analyze every situation trying to decide what is worth it and what is not. You need to stop that and just go for something."

"You're right."

"I'm always right." Barbara replies. They both smile. "Come on, let's figure out how these Jet Ski things work."

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

It wasn't that hard to run a jet ski Artemis soon realized. She motored around, making sure that no one from the group had wondered off. Raquel was besides her.

"All clear?" Raquel asks.

"Yep. I don't see any stray passengers. Let's go join the rest of the group." With that, Artemis and Raquel pick up speed and join the rest of the group up ahead. They both nod at Arthur, who smiles, relieved.

"Alright everyone, this is one of the best beaches on the island." Arthur's voice drones on. He had done a lot of research before hand lead the tour and you could tell that he had learned a lot. Artemis just kind of zoned out, relaxing on the small watercraft.

Artemis looked out to her left, noticing a bunch of dark clouds forming. Arthur had finished his lecture and people were exploring the little cove. Artemis drove over to Arthur.

"Arthur, look." She points to the dark clouds.

"How? The weather report said that we should be clear until eight o'clock tonight." He checked his watch. "It's only five!"

"Sometimes the weather report is wrong. We should head back to be safe." Artemis suggests. Arthur nods.

"You're right. Go tell the others, I'll gather the passengers." Arthur instructs, motoring away to go gather the passengers. Artemis spots Jason and Barbara first, the two of them talking.

"Hey guys." Artemis says when she reaches them. "There is a storm heading in. Jason, collect some passengers from Arthur and begin leading them back."

Jason nods and he heads over to join Arthur who had already collected a few passengers. Barbara follows after him. Artemis turns towards Dick, spotting him and Roy laughing together a small distance away.

"Hey guys, storms coming in." The two boys look out to the left and noticed the quickly approaching storm. They turned to the gathered passengers. Jason had already taken off with a group, heading back towards the docks as quickly as possible. Artemis spotted a familiar red head in the back of the group as well. Raquel and Wally appeared suddenly as well.

"We heading back because of that?" Raquel asks, pointing to the storms. Artemis nods.

"Let's go." Dick says, the five of them moving towards the large group. Kaldur took off with another group.  
"Okay, is this everyone?" Arthur asks, doing a head count. Satisfied, he speaks again. "Alright, the rest of us will head back together. Artemis and Wally take caboose."

The two teens nod, waiting for everyone to take off before going as well. They were moving quickly, but the storm was too. A strong wind whips through Artemis' hair.

"Do you think we'll make it?" Wally shouts over the sound of the wind and their motors.

"Yeah, we only have like another mile to go. We should be there in a few minutes." Artemis shouts back in return. Wally nods.

Artemis looks away from Wally, training her eyes back on the pack of people. Suddenly, a girl went astray from the rest of the group. Nobody noticed but Wally and Artemis.

"I'll go get her. You continue on and tell Arthur." Artemis shouts to Wally. He looks reluctant, but he nods. Taking off as Artemis veered to the right towards the girl.

When she reached her, Artemis realized that the girl was crying, furiously trying to get her jet ski to start.

"It's not working!" She cries when she spots Artemis. A tall wave slams into the two of them and the girl just barely manages to hold on. Artemis makes a quick decision.

"Grab on." She shouts to the girl.

"But what about..."

"It doesn't matter." Artemis interrupts, knowing that Oliver could just pay back the Jet Ski Company. "Where is your family?"

"My dad is up with the rest of the group. We had been in the back and nobody noticed when my jet ski stopped working and I drifted over here." The girl cries, another wave hitting them. The girl quickly scrambles onto the back of Artemis' jet ski.

"Hold on tight..." Artemis trails off, not knowing the girl's name.

"Cissie." She replies. Artemis nods, revving up and taking off towards the docks.

"I'm Artemis by the way." She shouts above the wind, trying to stay calm for the girl's sake. It had begun to rain at that point and the winds were relentless. The waves continued to get bigger and it was getting harder to steer.

"Damn it." Artemis hisses through her teeth as another wave pushes her off course. Through the torrential downpour, she was having trouble navigating.

"Look out!" Cissie cries. Artemis looks to her right just in time to see a monster wave come crashing down on them and wrap an arm around Cissie.

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^

Wally stared out at the ocean, looking desperately for any sign of Artemis or Cissie. The young girl's father was doing the same, as were the rest of his friends. They had reached the docks just as the storm increased and it began to rain. The passengers had all run onto the cruise ship along with Arthur who went to alert the coast guard and tell Oliver.

"Where the hell are they?" Wally asks to nobody in particular, panicked.

"They're...they're probably fine." Raquel says nervously.

"Raquel, do you see that storm out there!" Wally shouts. Raquel backs away and Kaldur gives Wally one of his rare glares as he wraps an arm comfortingly around his girlfriend.

"Wally, this is very stressing, but we can't lash out." Kaldur says calmly. Wally just goes back to staring anxiously out at sea. Roy ran back towards them. He had tried running to the other end of the dock to see if he could spot them at all.

"Did you see them?" Barbara asks anxiously. Roy shakes his head angrily. Wally punches a pole coming out of the dock, not even caring about his now throbbing hand.

"I should have stayed with them." Wally yells angrily to nobody in particular.

"Wally, calm down my friend. You were able to speed ahead and alert us and we have a general knowledge of where they are because of you. This is good for Arthur to tell the coast guard." Kaldur assures him stepping away from Raquel towards him. Wally shakes off Kaldur's hand.

"That doesn't change the fact that she is in danger!" Wally yells. Kaldur sighs, walking back over to his girlfriend. Wally went back to watching for familiar blonde hair. He didn't care about the torrential rain falling on him. He wasn't moving until he could see her and know that she was safe. The rest of his friends stood besides him too, anxiously searching for the girl.

"Where is she?" Oliver's voice shouts above the winds joining the teens on the dock.

"Oliver, calm down." Bruce says, he and Clark coming up behind the man. Dinah, Zatanna, Conner, and Megan had all materialized as well. Megan was crying while Conner held her close.

"Don't tell me to calm down. My daughter is out there!" Oliver shouts. Wally had never seen him yell before. Bruce wasn't fazed though, he rarely ever was.

"The coast guard are going to send out boats and a helicopter as soon as the rain lightens up." Clark assures him.

"She might not have that long! My daughter and a little ten year old girl are stuck out in this!" Oliver shouts waving his arms around in the strong wind and rain. A wave crashes up onto the dock, soaking all of their already wet feet.

"Artemis," Zatanna chokes out, Dick putting an arm around her. "Artemis is a fighter. If anyone could survive this, it's her." Wally wasn't sure if she was trying to reassure the rest of them, or herself.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^

Artemis came up for air, holding Cissie. Both girls coughed up a fair amount of seawater. Artemis looked around for the Jet Ski, not seeing it anywhere. Thank god for life jackets though. They were floating on the surface of the water with little effort.

"Cissie, I need you to go on my back." Artemis shouts to the younger girl.

"You sure?" She asked tentatively.

"Yes. Just do it now." Artemis yells to be heard above the howling wind. The girl nods and does as Artemis asks, wrapping her thin arms around Artemis' neck. She slowly begins swimming in the direction that she thinks the docks are. Waves crash into her, pushing her astray and sometimes under the water.

If all that training her dad put her through ever had a need, now would be it. She thought of all those times he woke her up early in the morning and had her training until she could literally stand no more. She could do this.

She pushed through the water with slow and powerful strokes, staying calm. If she panicked, Cissie would panic and it would be harder to swim with her on her back that way. She felt the girl shivering against her back.

"Come on Cissie, stay with me." Artemis shouts another wave crashed over their heads, plunging them into the water. They came up for air once again.

"I'm cold."

"It's okay Cissie, before you know it you'll be wrapped in a big blanket and this will all be a distant memory." Artemis tells her in between breaths. Her arms had begun to ache, but land was beginning to appear closer and she was pretty sure she was getting close to the docks. She let a wave push her towards the direction she was heading in, giving her tired arms a break.

"Okay Artemis." Cissie shivers.

Artemis couldn't afford to waste any more effort talking so she just hoped that she had reassured the girl long enough to keep her with her to reach the docks. She knew she was almost there.

Artemis didn't know for how long she swam. It continued to rain and the wind continued to whip around her wet hair. It was still wavy, but Artemis was past the point of exhaustion. She no longer felt anything; she just continued to swim. Just when Artemis was sure she couldn't go on anymore, she spotted figures in the distance standing on a familiar looking dock. A familiar looking ship was docked a little ways behind that. Using the last of her strength she shouted.

"HELP!" No longer swimming, her and Cissie bobbed on the surface for a little bit before the water crashed over their heads again, pulling them under again.

^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^

"HELP!" Everyone stopped talking as they searched the horizon for the source of the voice. Wally spotted a familiar head of blonde hair in the water a little ways out.

"There!" He pointed. Kaldur, the best swimmer of the group, immediately dove into the water to go get them. Oliver moved to jump also, but Dinah stopped him.

"You're not a strong enough swimmer. You'll be no help to her." Dinah tells him. Dick and Zatanna run to the ship to grab blankets and Arthur, knowing that another strong swimmer could come in handy.

Wally watched Artemis dip back below the surface with the girl holding onto her back. He had never been more afraid in his life as he watched her go under.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

Artemis fought to reach back up to the surface; she wasn't giving up with out a fight. Artemis felt the arms around her neck go slack. She reached behind her, pulling the little girl to her side as she kicked to reach the surface.

Luckily, a strong hand reached down and helped pull them up. Artemis and Cissie gasped for breath. Artemis found herself face to face with Kaldur.

"Take...Cissie." Artemis stammered out, passing him the younger girl. Kaldur nods and takes off to the dock of people including the girl's concerned father. It was so close, yet so far. Still Artemis pushed through, if she was anything, she was a fighter. She spotted Kaldur pass Cissie into the waiting arms of her father before coming back to where Artemis was slowly making her way to the dock.

Kaldur reaches her and places an arm around her stomach, dragging her back to the dock. She felt Oliver's strong arms pull her up out of the water and then the faces of her worried friends crowded her vision as she blacked out.

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^

The first time Artemis woke up, she was barely conscious. She opened her eyes to see Dinah, Oliver, and Roy all in the med bay room, looking at her in concern.

"She's awake." Dinah proclaimed, tears in her eyes. She instantly felt Oliver reach for her hand.

"Artemis, kid, how do you feel?" Oliver asks. She was still groggy and obviously had some sort of pain killers in her system. She felt tired, like she had just been swimming for a week. And she felt cold, even under all the blankets on her.

"I've been better." She said. "I'm really tired. How's Cissie?"

"Go back to sleep then sweetie, Cissie is okay." Dinah tells her encouragingly. She does exactly as Dinah suggested.

The second time she woke up, Wally was the only one there, asleep in the chair besides her bed. She looked over towards him.

"Wally." She croaked out, her voice cracking. He stirred almost immediately, his eyes filling with relief at seeing her awake.

"Thank god." He said. "You're awake. We were so worried...I was so worried."

"I'm sorry." Wally laughs at that, it sounding bit strained.

"Just like you to apologize." Wally tells her. She gives a small smile.

"How long have I been asleep?" Artemis asks.

"Three days. You woke up two days ago, but then you fell asleep again." Wally tells her.

"Three days! I missed Babs leaving!" Wally laughs again.

"Don't you think you should be concerned with other things? Babs made us promise to have you call her as soon as you woke up again and felt up to it." Wally tells her.

"I'll do that...later. God, why the hell am I so tired right now?" Artemis asks. Wally smiles.

"Um, maybe because you swam in the middle of a storm with a ten year old girl on your back?"

"How is Cissie?" Artemis asks again.

"She's fine. She and her father left when we came into port. She drew you that picture." Wally says, pointing to a crayon drawing on the small table besides the bed. It was a picture of her and Cissie hand in hand with "Thank you for saving me" written along the top. Artemis smiled at the picture.

"Hey," Wally says. "Don't you ever do that to me again." Wally leans down and kisses her. Artemis kisses him back.

^^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^

"Where is she?" Lawrence Crock demands.

"I will never tell you." Paula Crock replies, her wheelchair as far away from the man she once called her husband as she could be in the small room. "The guards will be here soon. Leave!"

"Not so fast." Lawrence steps towards Paula, knocking her out of her wheelchair. She laid out sprawled on the ground. Lawrence pulled out a javelin.

"Now, where is Artemis?"

**A/N: Wow, this has been my longest chapter yet. It had a bit of everything, Spitfire moments, angst, protective brother Roy. I hope you guys liked it. Remember to tell me which story you guys want to hear next after this story. Happy Easter to anyone who celebrates it. Chapter 21 will be up as soon as I finish it, hopefully within a few days. Review and tell me your thoughts and which story you want to read. Thank you!**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: I know this is sad, but I have a clear kind of outline in my head of how the last few chapters are going to go. It's been a lot of fun writing for you guys. We still have some more chapters to go though. Get excited because here comes Chapter 21! There isn't a lot of action in this chapter but it's setting up events for the final few chapters. **

**Disclaimer: Young Justice in no way or form belongs to me.**

The Letter

Artemis wrapped her arms around Wally's neck, pulling him closer. Kissing him felt right. She smiled against his lips. Neither of them heard the door to the room open.

"Finally." Dick's voice says causing the two of them jump apart, both of their faces turning bright red. Dick and the rest of the gang stood by the door smiling. Conner carried a bouquet of flowers, which he promptly handed to her.

"From all of us." He explains.

"Thanks guys." Artemis says, her face still bright red. Wally shuffles back to his seat as the group filters around her bed.

"How are you feeling?" Megan asks.

"Better. Still kind of tired." Artemis explains.

"You really need to do a better job at avoiding dangerous situations." Kaldur tells her.

"Danger and I are just attracted to each other I guess." Artemis says, shrugging. They all laugh.

"So are you two like together now?" Jason asks, voicing the question that had been going through all of their heads. Artemis and Wally exchange a look.

"Are we?" Artemis asks Wally.

"If you're okay with it, I'm okay with it." He finally responds after the longest ten seconds of Artemis' life.

"I guess we are then." Artemis says, turning to Jason. Megan squeals and begins to clap, just like they all knew she would.

"This is so exciting! Now we just need to get Jason and Barbara together!" Megan proclaims.

"We're just friends." Jason grumbles.

"Sure baby bro." Dick says, patting the boy on the back. Jason rolls his eyes, but Artemis could tell that he enjoyed having Dick as a brother. She smiled at her friends.

"Where's Oliver?" Artemis asks.

"Dinah sent him to grab the mail in town. He hadn't left the med bay since you got in here. He was really worried about you." Raquel tells her.

"Wait, so are we still in Miami then?" Artemis asks.

"Yep." Megan says. "We were going to stay in port a few days, but Uncle John said that they are doing a tune up in the engine room that might take longer. We had to cancel the next week's cruise, so we're stuck in Miami for the next week and a half."

"There are worst places to be stuck." Zatanna says.

"We could be stuck in the Arctic." Jason jokes. Everyone rolls his or her eyes at that. Artemis' eyes had slowly begun to droop again.

"Hey guys, I think Mis is about to fall asleep." Dick says.

"Maybe we should clear out." Kaldur suggests. Everyone says some form of good-bye before filtering out the door. Wally lingers behind though.

"You should go with them. I'm just going to sleep." Artemis tells him. He begins to protest but Artemis stops him. "I'm fine Wally, just tired. I'll come find you all as soon as I have the all clear from Dinah to walk around again."

Wally closes his mouth and walks over to her bedside. He kisses her forehead.

"Sweet dreams Blondie."

"Go do something fun Baywatch." Artemis mumbles before drifting off to sleep again.

^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^

"You're pathetic! I thought I taught you better then this!" Lawrence shouts at eight-year-old Artemis. "Jade is gone, stop crying. The bitch is not worth the tears."

Artemis tried to stop crying, but it was no use. Her mom was gone and now her sister was too. She clutched the bear closer to her chest, hoping that it would protect her.

"Stop crying you useless piece of trash!" Lawrence shouts, slapping his daughter across the face. He storms out of the room that Artemis had previously shared with Jade. She furiously wiped at her tears, begging her eyes to stop crying.

The scene shifted suddenly to her father standing over her friends. Each one of them had one of his signature javelins through them, pining them to the wall.

"Don't do this!" Artemis shouts, begging her father to stop from lowering the javelin into Wally. "Please, I'll do anything. Just stop this!"

"You can't stop this. You should have thought before you turned me over to the police." With that, he lowers the javelin into Wally's heart.

"Nooo!" Artemis screams sitting upright in her bed. Oliver is quickly at her side trying to calm her down. She begins to shake though.

"Artemis calm down, it was only a dream." Oliver tells her. She shakes her head, tears forming in her eyes. Oliver sits down on the edge of the bed, hugging her close.

"It, it was so real." Artemis chokes out.

"You want to talk about it? I know I'm not as good as Dinah at these things but I can give it a try." Oliver tells her. She contemplates it for a moment, before nodding.

"It started out as a memory from the night Jade left." Artemis says, shuddering. The night will be forever etched into her mind. Her father came home to see her sitting on her bed, crying and clutching onto her bear for dear life. When he asked what happened, she told him that Jade left. After yelling at her and slapping her, the one time he ever really intentionally hurt her; he left for two days to search for her, leaving Artemis to fend for herself.

"Alright, go on." Oliver tells her encouragingly.

"Well then the scene shifted and all my friends were dead because of him. I begged him to stop, but he drove a javelin through Wally's heart." Artemis says, shivering at the memory.

"Oh Artemis." Oliver says, hugging her close. She rests her head on his shoulder, finding comfort from the older man. "Artemis, it was only a dream. He's locked away in jail, remember?"

"But what if he get's out? I saw Jade again a few days ago." Artemis says.

"You did? When?" Oliver asks.

"Puerto Rico." Artemis says, leaving out the part where she was on the boat and Roy knew.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Oliver asks her.

"I don't know. I just didn't want to talk about it. She said that it's only a matter of time before he finds a way to escape." Artemis tells him. "She's right."

"Artemis, Belle Reve is a very secure prison. And even if he did get out, you're on a cruise ship that is only in the United States for a week at most at a time. He's not going to find you. And if he did, that's what I'm here for, to keep you safe." He assures her, rubbing her shoulder.

"Promise?" She asked him. He smiles.

"I promise." Roy walks in a few seconds later.

"Oliver where did you..." His eyes land on Artemis. "Artemis, you're awake again." She nods.

"What were you going to ask me Roy?" Oliver asks the red haired young man.

"Where the mail is. I think my Archer's monthly was coming in." Roy says.

"Really? Aren't they doing the interview with that girl who is the Olympic hopeful?" Artemis asks.

"Yep, that's the issue." Roy says.

"I want to read it too." Artemis tells him.

"You can read it after me." Roy replies.

"It's up on my desk in the Watchtower." Oliver tells him. Roy moves towards the door.

"Wait, can I go too? I really feel the need to get up and walk around." Artemis says.

"Sure." Oliver responds. Artemis gets up out of bed, happy that Dinah put her in her comfiest pair of sweatpants and her favorite t-shirt. She, Roy, and Oliver all walked out of the med bay towards the elevator. Oliver stopped for a moment along the way to talk to Barry about something, leaving just Roy and Artemis.

"So Artemis, West really?" Roy asks her teasingly.

"You heard already?" Artemis asks.

"Dick told me. I stopped him when he tried to go into detail about what he say though." Roy says, shuddering. Artemis laughs.

"Now you know how I felt when I heard about you and Jade."

"Jade and I weren't together."

"Sure." Artemis says sarcastically.

"No really, we weren't."

"Fine, but you wanted to be."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Harper, I've figured out when you are lying so give it a rest." Artemis tells him. He just sighs.

"Fine, maybe I did, but she's gone now, so it doesn't really matter."

"Don't worry buddy, Jade shows up when you least expect her too. You'll see her again." Artemis tells him. The two of them stop in front of the elevator, waiting for it to arrive. Just as they are about to get in, Oliver appears again. They type in their room numbers and ride up to the Watchtower, announcing their arrival.

_Green Arrow 08, Red Arrow B-06, Artemis B-07_

Oliver waves to Clark as the pass by him, talking with a pretty woman on their way towards Oliver's desk.

"Who's that?" Artemis whispers to Roy.

"Lois Lane, Clark's girlfriend. She's the one always trying to get him to spend more time with Conner." Roy whispers back.

"She's obviously not doing a very good job at it."

"That's because Clark is almost as stubborn as you." Roy jokes, earning him a glare from Artemis. They walk right over to Oliver's desk where there was a pile of mail from the past week. He sighs, and begins sorting through it. He hands Roy his magazine. He opens it and begins to read with Artemis standing on her toes to read over his shoulder.

"Artemis, there's a letter here for you." Oliver says, furrowing his eyebrows at the blank envelope.

"It's probably a letter from my mom." Artemis says, grabbing it and tearing it open.

"But they usual have the logo of her prison on the envelope." Oliver says in confusion. Roy looks up from his magazine at Oliver's concerned tone.

Artemis pulls out the letter, throwing the ripped envelope into the trash. She unfolds the letter, frowning when she she's the Belle Reve logo on the top of the paper. By the time she had finished the letter, the expression had turned to one of pure panic.

"Artemis, what's wrong?" Roy asks in confusion. Wordlessly, Artemis hands the letter over to Oliver. Roy reads over the man's shoulder as well.

"He got out." Artemis finally says in a low voice.

"Artemis, you're in a safe place, he won't harm you. He doesn't even know you are here, remember?" Oliver tells her, bending down a bit to stare her straight in the eye. Her expression was blank until something dawns on her. Her face screws up in pain.

"Oh god." She said. "No. Ollie, he doesn't know where I am, but he knows where my mom is and she knows where I am."

"You don't think..." Roy trails off.

"Either way, if she doesn't tell him, he'll kill her. He's going to kill my mom." Artemis says, swaying a bit. Roy helps steady her.

"Your mom will be fine, everything will be alright." Oliver tells her, speaking soothingly. Artemis just shakes her head.

"No, nothing is alright Oliver. Nothing is okay."

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

"I will not tell you." Paula Crock says.

"Then you have no use to me." Lawrence is about to lower the javelin into his wife when something catches his eye. On a small desk against the wall there was a pile of papers. Lawrence spotted the handwriting of his youngest daughter immediately.

"No." Paula says trying to reach out and stop him. He kicked her hand away, with little effort, picking up the nearest letter.

"Dear Mom, today Oliver and Dinah announced their engagement, finally. Dinah wants me to be the maid of honor. I'm really excited about it. Maybe they'll let you out for a few days to come. Oliver said that he would ask since both he and Dinah would like you there." Lawrence stops reading out loud, spotting a picture of Artemis with another blonde haired man and woman. He recognized the man in the picture as Oliver Queen. "So Artemis has traded up? Staying with the one and only Oliver Queen."

Footsteps suddenly echo coming down the hallway.

"Don't you dare harm my daughter."

"She's my daughter too Paula, and I think it's about time she gets a visit from her dear old father."

"Please, Lawrence, don't do this." Paula begs. Lawrence doesn't listen though.

"Nice seeing you again. I'll be back." Lawrence disappears out of the room. Paula shouts for guards to come but it was too late.

He walked up to the women behind the ticket counter.

"One ticket to Miami please."

**A/N: Hope you guys like the building suspense. Hopefully the next chapter will be up sometime by next weekend. I can't promise anything though. Thanks for reading. Please review and tell me what you thought. I still want to know what you guys would like to read next, a Steampunk version of the original team or a story of another team in the same universe made up of OC's that you guys submit. **


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Wow, I feel like I haven't written for this in forever. In reality it's only been five days... This is going to be my only update most likely for probably a week. I have a term paper to write and a bunch of other crap I have to do for school. We are getting into the final chapters (tears). I really want to thank all of you who have read, liked, followed, and reviewed this story. You guys are awesome. I'm really sorry again, I usually like to update twice a weekend, but I won't be able to this weekend. I'm really sorry. **

**Disclaimer: Young Justice does not, nor will it ever, belong to me. **

Night on the Town

"You sure you're alright Artemis?" Roy asks her for the fifty millionth time that day. They two of them walk along the deck, the boat strangely empty with no passengers on it.

"I'm okay Roy, really. There is probably a very reasonable explanation for why I couldn't get through to my mom." Artemis says, still freaked out inside.

"You're lying."

"What if I am? Roy, my mom is the only real family I have left." Artemis says quietly, stopping along the railing to stare out at the water below them. Roy does the same.

"Well you have Jade." Artemis gives him a look. "I know she's a little rough around the edges, but I think she generally cares for you." Artemis snorts at that.

"Sure Roy, I really felt the love when she left. And her caring side was really showing when she threatened to tell my dad where I am, not that that matters any more." Artemis says sarcastically.

"Okay, maybe Jade isn't the best example."

"You think?" Artemis asks, interrupting him.

"My point is that you have another family. I know your real one sucks and I know that nobody could replace your mom if," He puts emphasis on the if," something happened to her. But Oliver, Dinah, and I will be there for you. As will the rest of them, especially Wally."

"Especially Wally what?" The two of them spun around to see a confused looking Wally standing behind them with a bowl of popcorn. "I saw you guys over here coming out of the cave. So you guys were talking about me?"

"Yeah, about how I will totally beat up anyone who hurts my new little sister, especially Wally." Roy says giving the boy a pointed look. Wally gulps while Artemis just rolls her eyes.

"Noted." Wally says, turning to Artemis. "Hey Artemis, you want to go into town with the rest of us?"

"Yeah, one second. I'll catch up with you." Artemis says. Wally gives her a weird look and she walks over and kisses him on the cheek. "I'll be there in a second babe, I just need to finish telling Roy something."

Wally smiles. "'Kay, we'll meet you on the dock." Wally tells her before walking away. Artemis watches him walk away with a smile on her face, the stress with her mom and dad temporarily forgotten.

"You really like him don't you?" Roy asks, pulling Artemis out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, I do."

"Fine, as weird as it is, I approve." Roy says. Artemis elbows him in the gut.

"I wasn't asking for your approval red." Artemis tells him haughtily.

"I never assumed you were." Roy says, rubbing his stomach. "Was the elbow in my stomach really a must?"

"It was." Artemis says, beginning to walk towards the gangplank to go meet the others.

"Wait, Artemis." Artemis spins around and gives Roy a quizzical look. "Are you ever going to tell them? Now would be as good a time as ever."

"I know...its just...I like feeling normal." Artemis confesses. "Especially now, I need normal. I need people who think that I am just Artemis. Not Artemis Crock, daughter of Lawrence Crock. I don't want to be the daughter of a known thief and killer. I just want to be...me."

"I know, but they are going to find out sooner rather then later. At least if you tell them you can control some of the variables in the situation." Roy lectures.

"Yeah but..." Roy interrupts her.

"No buts Arty, it needs to be done sooner rather then later."

Artemis sighs, "You're right."

"Did I just hear that correctly? Did Artemis Crock just admit that I, Roy Harper, was right about something?" Roy asks in mock astonishment.

"Don't make me punch you again." Artemis threatens. Roy just laughs.

"Go on short stuff."

"Short stuff?"

"I figured it was better then Arty."

"Anything is better then that dreadful nickname." Artemis turns around to walk away again, but once again, Roy calls after her.

"And Artemis." Roy starts.

"Yeah?" She asks, turning around.

"Everything will be okay. You know what they say; everything will turn out okay in the end. If its not okay, its not the end."

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^

Water sprayed out of Megan's mouth as she began to laugh hysterically. The water that landed on Conner just made the rest of them laugh harder.

"You did not?" Raquel asks Jason, who just grins.

"I did."

"Dude, I can't believe that you did that." Wally states.

"I can't believe that you took off your pants to get a girl's attention." Zatanna says shaking her head.

"Hey, it was the only thing I could think to do." Jason says, shrugging.

"Why did Barbara never tell me this?" Dick asks, still laughing. "I'm sure Principal Summers must have flipped. He's such a hard ass from what I remember."

"It was my first day of school. The girl kept ignoring me because I was in a hand me down uniform. After that though I decided to just have nothing to do with any of them." Jason tells them.

The waitress comes around, collecting everyone's empty plate, or in Wally's case, several empty plates. Everyone through a bunch of bills onto the table and then they left the restaurant. Wally came up besides Artemis, taking her hand in his, grinning. She smiled too. He swept her up into his arms, right there on the street in front of strangers and their friends.

"Wally, put me down." Artemis demands, laughing.

"Say the magic word." Wally tells her, holding her tighter as she squirmed.

"Is it, I'm about to put Artemis down before she makes her boyfriend do it?" Artemis asks in a sickly sweet and devious voice. Wally gulps and puts her down.

"Okay, you guys are dating now. Can we move on please?" Conner asks. Wally smiles.

"Sure thing big guy. Where we going next?" Wally asks. Everyone begins to talk, throwing out suggestions. The night was still very much young, and they were planning on having the night of their lives.

While everyone was still talking, Wally leans down and whispers to Artemis. "I wondered what made him more irritable then usual? You think somebody peed in his orange juice or something?"

Artemis chuckles quietly. "While I am quite sure that that is the reason why he is irritable, I had another idea. Now I know this is really outrageous, but maybe this has to do with Clark? Just a crazy guess though."

"You hear about something else?" Wally asks.

"Megan mentioned something about the two of them getting into another argument. Even she wasn't entirely sure what it was over this time." Artemis informs him.

"Poor dude." Wally says.

"I know."

"What are you two whispering about now?" Dick asks them.

"Stuff." Artemis replies.

"What type of stuff?" Raquel asks.

"The type that doesn't involve any of you." Artemis responds. Wally laughs, putting an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close.

"So you guys decided what we are going to do?" Wally asks.

"Mall. I haven't been to one in forever." Megan squeals excited. "I am totally in need of some new clothes."

"Um, didn't you just get a new shirt and skirt in the Keys?" Zatanna asks.

"Details, minor details Zee." Megan says, waving her off. She glides to the head of the group, pulling Conner with her. They walked in a big mass of nine strong towards the nearest mall. Dick and Zatanna lagged behind the rest of them, whispering quietly about something.

"I fear that they are planning something." Kaldur says, voicing what they were all thinking. His hand held Raquel's securely in his own.

"You think?" Jason asks, his eyes scanning across the group. "You know, I'm really starting to feel like a ninth wheel."

"We can always call Barbara and see if she can come down here." Artemis teases, nudging Jason in the shoulder. He glares at all of them as they begin to laugh.

"You guys suck."

"Oh chill. We're just kidding." Raquel tells him. They were still laughing quietly to themselves when somebody shouted out behind them. They all spun around.

"Raquel!" An African American young man with crazy black hair was running towards them, a girl and three other boys behind him. He breaks through the crowd, tackling Raquel in a bear hug. Raquel breaks away from Kaldur, a huge smile on her face.

"Virgil!" She exclaims happily. She breaks away from him and smiles at the other teens. "Hey Sam, Tye, Roy, and Ed." They all say some form of greeting to Raquel while the rest of them looked on confused.

"What are you doing here?" The boy, Ed, Artemis was pretty sure was his name.

"The ship I live on is in port for the next two weeks to get some inspections and repairs done." Raquel explains. "What about you guys? Florida is a long way from New England."

"School trip." The girl, Sam, says. She wore a green headband and stood next to the boy in the orange headband, Tye.

"Sweet." Raquel says.

"So Raq, these your new friends I've heard so much about?" Virgil asks, looking around the group. "Wait, I thought there was only nine of you."

"Oh, Jason here," Raquel points to the black haired boy. "He's new."

"Cool." Virgil says.

"Raquel, are you going to introduce us? I'm Megan." Megan says cheerily as usual.

"Aw, the happy Megan Morse. That must make you the brooding Conner," Virgil spins around the group of them. "Let's see, you must be Wally and you're Artemis. That would make you Zatanna, and you Dick." Finally he turns to Kaldur. "And you must be Kaldur."

"Yes, that is us, but who are you exactly?" Kaldur asks.

"Virgil Hawkins. Raquel and I are both from Dakota City. We both used to run in the same circles before I went to school out east and she met Augustus." Virgil shakes Kaldur's hand, smiling widely. "These are my buddies Asami, Tye, Eduardo, and Roy."

"Hey, another Roy." Wally says. Roy looks over at Wally, face void of expression.

"Hey." Roy simply says. Ed elbows him in the side.

"Lighten up for once dude, seriously." Ed says, shaking his head.

"Cool." Conner says simply, uncrossing his arms from across his chest, his sign of approval of the five of them.

"You guys feel like hanging with us?" Virgil asks them.

"That would be cool. You can tell us blackmail stories about Raquel." Dick responds, mischievously.

"Is that your only concern?" Raquel asks him shaking her head.

"Hey, you never know when blackmail comes in handy." Dick says shrugging. Zatanna face palms, and shakes her head. Artemis could see a smile on her face though.

"I'm game." Artemis says her hand still entwined with Wally's. Tye eyes the two of them suspiciously.

"I thought you said the two of them hate each other?" Tye says to Raquel, pointing at the two of them.

"It's a recent change." Wally responds.

"I still don't like him very much. I've just learned to deal with him." Artemis tells them with a smile. Wally turns to look at her indignantly. He is about to say something, but Artemis cuts him off with a kiss. "Kidding babe."

"So you told your friends about us?" Conner asks Raquel.

"What can I say, I missed you guys." Raquel says, elbowing the tall boy. The fourteen of them all stood in the sidewalk, earning glares from people who had to walk around them, but they ignored them.

"We were just heading to the mall, you guys want to come along?" Megan asks.

"Sure, we had no other plans." Sam says slowly. Tye gives her a reassuring smile as she grins triumphantly. At their confused looks, Tye explains.

"Sam's from Japan, she's been learning English."

"Cool. I can speak Vietnamese fluently and French. I also know conversational Spanish." Artemis tells them. Asami smiles widely. The group begins to walk towards the mall again, everyone meshing well and talking easily. Wally and Artemis lagged behind a bit.

"I never knew you spoke Vietnamese." Wally says.

"I...I picked it up from my mom. She spoke it a lot." Artemis says, staring at the ground sadly. She had been trying to forget about the busy line that wouldn't let her talk to her mom. That wouldn't tell her if she was okay or not. Artemis suddenly felt beyond guilty. She was out here in Miami having a great time while her mom could potentially be dead. If she was a good daughter she would probably have some feeling that would have told her whether she was or not, but she just felt the same, only more concerned.

"Hey you alright?" Wally asks. "You kind of just spaced out."

"I'm...I'm fine." Artemis says, staring at the ground. Wally doesn't push it, simply squeezing her hand a little tighter.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

A few hours later, Virgil and his gang had to leave because they had a curfew. The nine of them were in a small ice cream shop. They stopped talking when a breaking news sign suddenly passed in front of the screen on the wall.

"Breaking news, a riot last week at Bell Reve prison..."

"No." Artemis thought to herself as all her friends tuned in to the newscast.

"We have now confirmed that one prisoner escaped, prisoner 4F5568, otherwise known as Lawrence Crock." A picture of her father appeared on screen. "Many know him as Sportsmaster. The Gotham City thief was suspected in nearly eighty-six different heists resulting in a total of 78 million dollars worth of stolen goods and 17 homicides. Four years ago, his partner Huntress was captured after falling form a window during a heist. She has been in Gotham Prison and a wheelchair ever since."

"If anyone knows anything about the whereabouts of this man, they are asked to contact their local police immediately. He could be anywhere and we ask that you all keep an eye out. Do not engage him, he is very dangerous. This has been Cat Grant..."

Artemis tuned out after that, focusing on the picture of her father. He had grown scruffier since she had last seen him. It made him look more sinister.

"Wow, that sucks." Wally comments, drawing Artemis back.

"I know. You would think Belle Reve would be better at keeping a man like him in jail." Dick says shaking his head. Jason nods in agreement.

"I wonder if he has a family." Megan says. Artemis begins choking on her ice cream cone. Kaldur pats her back a few times and she stops coughing.

"You alright?" Zatanna asks.

"Fine, fine." Artemis says, even though nothing was fine at all.

^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

He watched them as they left the ice cream shop. Nine total. He was surprised to see that his daughter had made friends. That wasn't going to last much longer.

**A/N: So I hope you guys liked that. I just love the Runaways so much; I had to put them in again. So hopefully I'll have my next chapter up next Friday. I'm really sorry guys that it'll be a while. Until then, have a great week. **


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: I'm Back! I survived! I successfully finished my term paper. It had a four-page limit, who the hell gives a four-page limit for a term paper? And it was double-spaced. Mine was eight pages...yeah...I had to pretty much cut it in half. It ended up having fewer words then what I use for a normal chapter in this story. **

**Yeah, that was my rant. Besides all that stress, there was an insane amount of Young Justice moments in my life this week. Like at lunch, my friend was doing her homework and she suddenly goes "I hate Godfrey." (From the book **_**Silas Marner**_**). My class hasn't read it yet, so I immediately thought of Gordon Godfrey. And then today, on the drive back from track (Wally!) my friends were talking and I kind of zoned out until one of them goes "Today is the day!" Why does this hurt so much?**

**Okay, this is the actual end of my rant. Wow, I totally just went off on a tangent. I hope you enjoy this chapter. All the building suspense from the last few chapters is about to boil over. Get ready.**

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Young Justice. Yes, I am a huge fan.**

The Pieces Come Together

"Artemis." Artemis looks over to Wally, his voice breaking her out of her thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine, why?" Artemis says, relaxing in the recliner. Their friends were all swimming but Wally and Artemis had opted to sit out for a little bit.

"You've just been really quiet since last night." Wally tells her. "After the ice cream shop. Does this have anything to do with that Sportsmaster dude?"

Artemis hides her cringe at the name. It sounded terrible in Wally's voice. When he said it, she pictured her dream. She pictured the javelin being lowered into Wally's chest. Something in her face must have clued Wally in.

"Are you afraid of him or something?"

"Course I'm afraid of him, he's a wanted criminal. It's not that I'm just..." Artemis quickly comes up with an excuse, "Nervous for the wedding. I'm going to be a terrible maid of honor."

"Oh yeah, you're going to suck." Wally says with a grin. Artemis reaches across and punches him in the shoulder. "But, Dinah and Oliver love you so it's okay." Artemis rolls her eyes.

"Wow, thanks Baywatch."

"Don't mention it Blondie." Wally responds. "But really, are you okay?"

"For the one millionth time, I am one hundred percent okay." Artemis tells him, getting up and kissing his cheek to assure him. She sits next to him practically in his lap as the two of them squish into the lounge chair. Wally's arms encircle Artemis, pulling her close.

"You know you and Sportsmaster have the same last name. Maybe you two are distantly related." Artemis begins to cough. "You okay?"

"Fine, fine." She says quickly.

"You say that word a lot."

"Do I?"  
"Yes, almost as much as I say food." Wally tells her with a grin. Artemis smiles, happy that he seemed to have dropped the issue entirely.

^^^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^^

Wally hadn't forgotten though. The look of concern on Artemis' face was etched into his mind. Later that afternoon, when she went to the archery range to teach Jason and Zatanna how to shoot an arrow since the two were interested, he went off to find Roy.

It didn't take him long to find the boy mopping the port deck. He walked up to his friend and stood besides him.

"What's up West?" Roy asks, not looking up from his mopping.

"You know Artemis' whole secret past." Wally states.

"Yes I do. I thought you were giving that whole thing a rest though, until she was willing to tell you." Roy says, stopping and leaning against the mop.

"Yeah, but I feel like something is wrong with her. I can't help her because sometimes I feel like I don't even truly know her. She'll say something and then completely shut down and be a million miles away." Wally says.

"You knew that when you started the relationship. You're not about to break up with her already are you?" Roy asks, narrowing his eyes at Wally. He violently shakes his head.

"No way. I really like her." Wally says. "I'm just frustrated. I want to be able to be there for her, but how can I if I feel like I don't even know her sometimes?"

"Wally, you're overreacting."

"Am I? You were the one who asked me to spy on her." Wally accuses. Roy winces.

"I know. I was so desperate to find out, but Wally, the truth doesn't always set you free."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm just saying Wally that sometimes I wish I didn't know. Sometimes I wish I could go back and slap myself and say to just accept her as she is. I'm happy that I finally got over myself and got to know her, but sometimes, I wish I was in the dark too."

"Why?"

"Because, it's hard to know. It's sucks to see just how much she struggles everyday. You guys are all blissfully unaware." Roy says.

"What? What is so bad Roy?" Wally asks, nearly shouting. "I was up half the night worrying about her. My mind came up with so many gruesome possibilities that I hope aren't true in the least. She has so many scars..." Wally trails off.

"It's not what you are thinking." Roy tells him.

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"Then what is it?"

"I...I can't tell you Wally. It is not my place to tell. She will soon though. I've talked to her and she is going to soon. Just give her time." Roy urges. Wally simply nods.

"I hope you are right Roy."

With that Wally walks away.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^

"You sure you can't come?" Megan asks her.

"Positive." Artemis responds.

"Gonna miss you tonight Mis Mis, especially lover boy." Jason says, elbowing Wally.

"I hate that nickname Jay." Artemis responds.

"Well I love it." Jason says, before following Kaldur and Zatanna down the gangplank. Conner, Dick, and Raquel follow.

"Alright. See you tomorrow." Megan says, hurrying after them. Wally turns to Artemis.

"I can stay you know." Wally tells her. She laughs.

"It's girls night. Dinah and I are looking at wedding catalogs and watching cheesy romance movies."

"Totally your thing." Wally says leaning down to kiss her. When they pull apart he grins at her. "Seems like you are already getting this whole maid of honor thing down."

"What?" Artemis asks in confusion.

"Um...you were all concerned last night and this morning about it." Wally says. Artemis nods quickly.

"Yeah, well..." She trails off. Wow, she totally messed that up.

"Talk later?" Wally questions. She nods staring at the ground. He gently places a hand under her chin, lifting her head up. "Hey, I'll still be here. I promise." She gives a small smile.

"Tell Virgil and the others I say hi." Artemis tells him.

"Will do. Have fun with Dinah." Wally replies, walking down the gangplank to join the rest of them. Artemis watches them go, a small smile on her face and heaviness in her heart.

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

Wally stared at the latest headline of the newspaper in front of him. A picture of Lawrence Crock was on it. The headline read "SPORTSMASTER IN MIAMI." Below it read, "Airport worker recognizes picture of the infamous thief spotted at the airport." Yikes, Wally thought.

Dick sat across from him, talking quietly to Zatanna. The rest of their friends were out on the dance floor of the mild club, even Jason. He stared at the picture of Lawrence. His hair was the same color as Artemis'.

Slowly an idea began to form in his head. Artemis starts acting funny when this dude comes on the news, they have the same last name and hair color, and he is on his way to Miami. She never talks about her past, but he knew she left Gotham when she was twelve. He scans the article until he finds the note about the capture of his partner Huntress, eight years ago. Apparently she helped them almost find him, when Artemis would have been twelve. He would have had to flee, leaving Artemis alone.

He saw a picture of Huntress and recognized Artemis' facial features in the woman. It would make sense if they two of them had a kid together or were married. He read further to see that Sportsmaster was captured in Star City, Artemis' hometown after being relocated.

Artemis was the daughter of Sportsmaster. He stood up suddenly, drawing Zatanna and Dick's attention to him.

"Wally what's wrong?" Zatanna asks.

"I need to go back to the ship." Wally states.

"Why?" Jason asks, sliding into the booth, next to Dick. Dick gives his best friend a confused look.

"I think Artemis is in trouble." Wally passes the article to Dick.

"Um...what is going on?" Jason is asked. A window is suddenly broken. A few people scream as smoke slowly begins to engulf the club. The group gets up and begins to make a break for the door, but they pass out from the gas before they could reach the door.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

An incessant knocking was what woke Artemis up the next morning. She sat up from where she had fallen asleep on the couch. Dinah was slowly waking up as well.

"I got it." Artemis says as another round of knocking commences. Artemis passes Dinah and Oliver's bedroom, not spotting Oliver inside. She didn't think much of it until she opened up a door to find a disheveled Oliver. "What's up Ollie? Did you sleep at all?"

"Artemis, Dinah, come with me up to the Watchtower. Now." Oliver says in a serious tone that Artemis had only heard a few times. The two of them follow him towards the elevator and they ride up to the Watchtower.

She spots Tye first and then Asami and the rest of them. Artemis looks at them in confusion and then she takes in the concerned looks of the adults in the room. Her heart sank.

"No."

"They're gone. All of them." Oliver tells her, putting an arm around her for support. She shakes her head vigorously.

"No. This isn't true. It can't be." Artemis says.

"I'm sorry Artemis." Virgil says, as she shakes her head again. "There was this smoke and then we woke up in the club but they...they were all gone. We came right here to see if they had come back here and the police had just missed them but..."

At that point, tears began to fall down Artemis' cheeks. Oliver hugs her close as tears stain his shirt.

"I can't believe he did this. I can't..." She trails off as she begins to sob.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^^

Wally's eyes slowly opened, feeling like lead weights were attached to his eyelids. He groggily looked around the dark room, spotting his seven other comrades in the room awake and pissed. He could see the fear in them as well.

"Ah, the last one awakens." A voice to his left says. A tall blonde man steps out from the darkness. Sportsmaster. Artemis' dad. "Now the fun can begin."

**A/N: So what did you guys think? Sorry that it's a little short. I really wanted to get this posted today in honor of the SMGO TV meeting and because I missed you guys:) Sorry for the cliffhanger. Hopefully the next chapter will be up tomorrow. Peace. **


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Hello beautiful people.**

**You guys are awesome. Has anyone told you that? All of you guys are the best readers an author could ever have. This chapter might be considered high T because of torture and stuff. I've never written anything like this chapter, so I would love your opinions on your thoughts of it, this chapter more than any other. I don't have any rants today. Carry On.**

**Disclaimer: I do this for fun, not profit. Young Justice is not mine.**

The Confrontation

"What do you want with us?" Dick demands. Sportsmaster looks away from Wally. Underneath his mask, Wally could imagine the malicious smile on his face. To think that Artemis came from this man was unthinkable. Sportsmaster walked over to Dick.

"Quiet." He demands, knocking the chair that Dick was tied to over. Dick fell to the floor, landing with a thud on his face, still attached to the chair. Wally struggled against his restraints.

"Hey Sporty, pick on someone your own size!" Wally shouts at him.

"Now where would the fun be in that?" Sportsmaster asks as he grabs Megan's red hair and pulls hard. Megan screams out in pain. Conner glares at the man and growls in frustration.

"Leave her alone." Conner demands. Sportsmaster turns to him.

"What are you going to do about it? You can't even stop me from doing this to you." Before anyone realized what was going on, Sportsmaster had pulled out a knife and stabbed it into Conner's shoulder. He shouted out in pain as Zatanna and Megan screamed. Sportsmaster removes his knife.

"Pathetic." He says, shaking his head as he wipes his knife on a rag in his pants. "Who's next?" Wally was once again aghast that this man had raised Artemis. Artemis who was definitely rough around the edges, but was a good person. This man before him was pure evil.

"How about you?" Sportsmaster says zeroing in on Zatanna who seemed to shrink in her chair. He took a step towards her.

"Stop, please. I have money, please. My name is..." Dick shouts out in protest, but Sportsmaster kicks him in the gut before he could finish. Wally glared at the man in anger, wishing he could burn a whole through him. Jason was the closest to him and he could see the boy doing the same.

"I know who you are Grayson, I know who all of you are." Sportsmaster says. "This, is Kaldur Ahm." Sportsmaster approaches Kaldur. "Kaldur hails from the island of Atlantis. He was an orphan and his best friends were Garth and Tula. Sorry about that by the way, unfortunate thing when people stab you in the back. Especially when these people were your family or practical family."

Kaldur glares at the man, but remains silent. He moves over to Raquel. "Raquel Ervin of Dakota City. The girl from the streets who rose above it all with her friend Virgil. Raquel with an unfortunate history in the friends department. You just can't seem to get it right can you? First Noble, now Artemis."

"What do you mean by that?" Raquel asks.

"No talking." Sportsmaster yells, punching Raquel in the stomach. She bends over, coughing. Kaldur's glare intensifies. "Next we have Conner Kent, the boy with the distant father. The boy who thought he had found a family, but had only found a distant father. Families, they really aren't all they cracked up to be are they?"

Conner doesn't say anything. Wally cringes when he sees the blood beginning to soak the sleeve of his shirt.

"Megan Morse, a pretty girl with the "ideal" life. You ran away thought to come with your uncle to the ship though. Why? What is it with kids these days, always running, never dealing with their problems head on. You guys are quite the sneaky generation. Artemis is a prime example."

Wally bites his tongue before he could say something, knowing that now was not a good time to run his mouth. He watches as Sportsmaster moves Dick's chair into an upright position.

"Dick Grayson, adopted son of the billionaire Bruce Wayne. Best friend of Barbara Gordon and adopted brother of Jason Todd. Do these people know who your real parents were?" Wally looked at the man in shock. Only Wally, Bruce, and Barbara knew the truth. How did this man know? Dick glares at the man, but remains silent. "Funny how secrets seem to run among you guys." He moves over to Zatanna.

"The beautiful Zatanna Zatara, the one and only daughter of the world renowned Giovanni Zatara." Sportsmaster begins, he pulls out a knife and hits her with the butt of it. Dick winces as Zatanna cringes in pain. "Beauty is often deceiving. I should know, I have two daughters and a wife who all betrayed me."

"Jason Todd, the newest of the group, the trash from North Gotham. How's your mom these days? I remember her from when I lived there, before my family betrayed me." Jason stares at the ground, in anger.

"Don't you dare talk about her." He seethes. Sportsmaster laughs and then punches the boy in the face. He was saditistic, seeming to enjoy all of their pain.

"See you have the North Gotham spirit in you. Sorry about your loss, your mother was...fascinating." Sportsmaster taunts. Jason fights angrily against his restraints.

"And finally we come to Wally West, the golden boy. So Wally, did you ever figure it out?" Sportsmaster asks.

"I did, right before you kidnapped us." Wally spits in his face. Dick stares at him in confusion, they all do.

"Smart boy. I wouldn't be surprised though if my daughter is on a plane right as we speak. She and her sister are like that, every Crock girl for herself." Realization dawns on everyone's faces as their glares intensify.

"Artemis isn't like that." Wally says. Sportsmaster laughs.  
"Oh really? And how long have you known her? Three months. I raised her. I know what she is like. If it's fight or flight, she will always pick flight. Now, let's continue with this meet and greet."

^^^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Artemis angrily shot another arrow at the target, her thirtieth bulls-eye in a row. She notched another arrow and got ready to shoot, not even flinching when Roy entered. She released the arrow. Make that thirty-one.

"Artemis, Gotham prison called back. Your mom is alive. They've moved her to a more secure location." Roy tells her gently. A small part of her felt free, but she was still weighed down by the weight of her friends' kidnapping.

"Great, but my-our-friends are still in mortal danger, and we can't do anything." Artemis quickly lets another arrow fly. Thirty-two bulls-eyes.

"They'll...they'll be found." Roy states. "I just got back from the police station with Bruce and Barry. They have almost their full force out looking for him."

"They won't find him." Artemis tells him, letting another arrow fly. Thirty-three bulls-eyes.

"They will."  
"No they won't. He wants something of me. They won't be found until he wants me to find them. It's all part of his sick games that he plays. But I'm done." Artemis watches as she gets another bulls-eye. Thirty-five. "I'm going to find him and I am going to kill him." Thirty-six.

"Artemis..."Roy starts uneasily.

"Don't. This needs to stop now. I am tired of always looking over my shoulder and living in fear. I just want to be Artemis! I want to be Artemis who can live a normal life with a normal family and a normal boyfriend." Thirty-seven.

"Killing him won't do anything."

"You don't think I can do it." Thirty-eight.

"Artemis..."

"He was training me. Did you know that? He taught me how to kill. He was going to make me kill someone the night he got caught. I refused which is why he got so angry and the police were called in." Artemis says. Thirty-nine.

"Killing him won't do anything. He's your dad Artemis."

"He reign of terror needs to stop. Sending him to prison doesn't do anything. We are in this mess because he escaped. I shouldn't have even come to this ship, I should have just killed him." Artemis says, knowing she was mostly just mumbling at this point. Forty. "I led him right to them. How could I have been so stupid? He's going to hurt them. He's going to break them. This is all my fault. And I can't don anything about it! But I can kill him, I can put a stop to all of this and just kill him." Forty-one.

"Oliver has told everyone to stop you if you try to leave this ship." Roy tells her. She laughs.

"I don't care Roy. He is going to pay." Artemis says, lowering her bow. She grabs a bunch of arrows and puts them in a quiver she had grabbed from the back of the room. She put it on her back and begun to walk towards the door. Roy steps in her way.

"Don't you dare walk out that door Artemis Crock." Roy says. Artemis glares at him and before he could comprehend, Artemis was kicking him in the face. He fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry Roy. Tell Oliver and Dinah that I am sorry, but I need to stop him. I need to do this." Artemis says, before she kicks Roy one last time in the head and he blacks out.

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^

Wally spit out blood onto the floor. His mouth was bloody and he was a little worse for wear but it seemed to have stopped him from his beating of Raquel. The girl was still breathing shakily. Kaldur had been knocked out about an hour ago and had yet to stir.

"That all you got Sporty? Come on, I can do this all day." Wally taunts, tasting blood in his mouth. He spits again onto the ground. Sportsmaster only laughs.

"So you're the boy my daughter picked to date. Wow, I thought I taught her better. She could have so much better then a buffoon like you." Sportsmaster says shaking his head. Wally glares at him.

"I don't really think you get a say in the matter, especially since Oliver already gave me the whole protective father speech." Wally says, watching as the man grows angry. He punches Wally in the stomach again before walking away. He walks out of the room, closing a door behind him.

Wally was pretty sure that they had been missing for almost twenty-four hours. He knew that they were probably all looking for them, he just hoped that Artemis wasn't. He didn't want his girlfriend anywhere near this man. He was honestly scared for what he would do to her if he got his hands on her.

He surveyed his friends. Dick had a black eye forming and was wheezing whenever he breathed, most likely he had a broken rib or two. Zatanna had bruises up and down her arms and her cheek. Megan was the least beat up, a few scratches and bruises. Conner on the other hand had several knife wounds and bruises, always trying to take the heat off of Megan. Raquel had one long cut on her forearm and her nose was most likely broken and bleeding a lot. Kaldur was knocked out after a blow to the head and three long jagged cuts. Jason had a cut on his cheek and several bruises. Wally knew he looked similar to Jason. The two of them receiving much of the same treatment.

"Where did he go?" Megan asked tentatively.

"I don't know. I just hope he doesn't come back anytime soon." Jason says. He looks over at Dick, concern on his face. "You alright bro?"

"I'm fine, just not really feeling the aster right now." Dick says. Zatanna tries to laugh but it quickly morphs into tears. Dick speaks quietly to her, trying to move his chair closer to her.

"Con, you okay?" Raquel asks.

"I'm fine." He simply replies, seething with anger.

"I can't believe that man raised Artemis. She's nothing like him." Jason states.

"He must be her big secret." Megan says quietly.

"Not much of a secret anymore." Raquel replies.

"No, it isn't." Conner responds, through gritted teeth. Megan struggles to try and reach over and touch him, but she can't. She sighs sadly.

"Do you think they are looking for us?" Jason asks.

"Course they are Jay." Dick assures him. "Knowing Bruce he probably has the whole police force on it."

They all lapse into silence for a while. Wally tries not to focus on the pain he felt, instead thinking about ways to get revenge on Sportsmaster. For doing this to him and his friends and for what he did to Artemis. Wally would give him five scars for everyone that Artemis got because of him. Roy said that he hadn't been abusive, but something obviously must have happened for her to get those scars.

Sportsmaster enters about an hour later, carrying a single water bottle. He walks over to each of them, pouring water onto their faces, whether they were ready to catch it or not. The water woke Kaldur up who went right back to glaring at Sportsmaster after he made sure that everyone was still there.

"Why are you doing this?" Kaldur asks, his voice shaking with anger. For the first time, Wally witnessed him angry instead of his usual calm.

"I'm trying to send a message to my baby girl. She can't mess with me and get away with it. I guess you guys just got caught in the crossfire." Sportsmaster taunts. An arrow suddenly cuts through the room from the door, ripping the right sleeve of his shirt. Nine set of eyes turn to the doorway, to see Artemis standing there.

"Message received, now let them go. Now." Artemis demands, focusing the bow on her father. She steps further into the room.

"I see you still like the bow, even though I was the one to teach you how to shoot it." Sportsmaster says, pulling out a javelin. "Nice to see you my baby girl. now, how did you find us anyway?"

"Don't call me that, I'm not your girl. And I simply went to where I would have gone if I were you. You taught me all of your tricks remember?" Artemis says, an arrow trained on his chest. Wally could see her hands shaking though.

"Artemis, what the hell are you doing here?" Wally demands angrily. She was supposed to be safe. Sportsmaster punches him in the face.

"Hey! You touch any of them and I shoot." Artemis yells angrily, fire in her eyes.

"Oh really? You couldn't kill then and I doubt you can now."

"Want to bet?"

"You won't. Not with all of your little friends here." Sportsmaster says. He trains his javelin on Dick. "I could kill this boy and I wouldn't think twice about it. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. Lower your bow." Artemis hesitates. "You know I will do it."

Artemis lowers her bow. "Good girl." Sportsmaster sends the javelin through his shoulder. Dick screams in pain.

"Stop this!" Artemis shouts, rushing her father. He pushes her aside. She lands against a dark wall in the dimly lit basement with a thud but she quickly bounces him. Sportsmaster trains his weapon on Wally.

"How about him? I know you have especially strong feelings for this boy, despite how many times I told you that nobody will ever love you. Maybe he is the exception. You know what happens to exceptions though, don't you?" Sportsmaster goes to lower the javelin through Wally. He stared at the tip, truly afraid for the first time.

"Stop this, please. I'll do anything." Artemis begs. Sportsmaster stabs the javelin through his arm. Wally yells out as burning pain courses through him, but at least he wasn't dead.

"Anything?" Sportsmaster says with obvious delight.

"Anything, just let them go and don't ever harm them or anyone else from the ship ever again." Artemis tells him.

"You know what this means don't you?" Sportsmaster asks.

"I do." Artemis responds.

"Don't do this Artemis." Jason shouts in protest. The two Crocks ignore him.

"And you're willing to sacrifice yourself for them. Wow, I guess you and Jade and I are less alike then I thought." Sportsmaster says.

"I am nothing like you and Jade." Artemis says defiantly. Inside she only felt defeated though. She knew she was in no condition to take him head on in a fight without her bow. She hadn't done any sort of training in years and she would need those years to take him on. If she was going to save her friends, she was going to have to sacrifice herself. Oliver was not going to be happy, but she needed to do this.

"Maybe not now, but you will be." Sportsmaster tells her. "Come along baby girl. It's time we leave."

Artemis just nods. Sportsmaster picks up the bow and snaps it in half. "No more need for that pesky thing. I should have never taught you that thing in the first place."

"Artemis!" Wally shouts.

"You need to let them go." Artemis tells him.

"I'll send the police a tip. You and I have a plane to catch. Looks like I am getting my perfect assassin yet." Sportsmaster says with a hint of glee in his voice.

"Artemis, stop!" Zatanna cries out. Her father steps through the door, she looks back in on her friends.

"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I...I..." Artemis closes her mouth and walks out of the door, leaving them behind.

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^

Wally heard the sirens first. Zatanna and Raquel had fallen asleep an hour earlier. He and Dick exchanged sad looks as they heard the steps approaching the door. The police broke in, quickly followed by Oliver, Bruce, John, Arthur, Augustus, Clark, Barry, Roy, and Dinah. Barry ran over to his nephew, removing the javelin still stuck in his arm and untying him from the chair. The other parents/guardians did the same.

Zatanna was crying softly into her father's shoulder. Jason and Bruce were both attending to Dick. Augustus carried in his arms a limp Raquel. Arthur supported Kaldur and Clark did the same to Conner, looking concerned about his son for one of the first times ever. John had an arm wrapped around his niece. As Wally was released from his restraints his eyes were drawn to the concerned looking Oliver as he searched around the dank basement.

"Where's Artemis?" Oliver asks. Roy and Dinah looked equally concerned.

"She...she..." Megan tries to get out, before she begins to cry, turning towards her uncle to cry on his shoulder.

"She traded herself for us." Jason says quietly. Wally stares at the ground. He failed as a boyfriend. He hadn't been able to stop her. Now who knew what was to become of her.

"No." Dinah gasps, tears forming in her eyes. "No, no, no, no." Roy punches a wall. Wally noticed then a bruise forming on his face.

"This...this can't be true." Oliver says his face screwed up in confusion. A police officer comes to the door.

"We've combed the building. Neither the girl nor Sportsmaster were to be found. We're heading back to the station to start a nationwide manhunt for the two of them. We'll find them." The police officer says. The officer walks away. Wally watches as a grown man begins to cry and collapses to the floor, his fiance beside him. The other guardians all looked at him with sadness. Wally watched until he couldn't anymore. He stared at his hands instead, his useless hands that hadn't done anything.

Artemis was gone.

**A/N: So again, I really want to know what you guys thought of this. Was it good? Or not. Was the torture okay? Was Sportsmaster in character? Was Artemis? I really want your guys opinions. Thank you. Chapter twenty-five will hopefully be out soon. I'm pretty sure that this story will be over this week. I have a school vacation, so plenty of time to write and finish this up. I'm actually really sad to see it ending. Until next the chapter. **


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Hi guys! Sorry about how I left off the last chapter. I realize it was a bit annoying. This chapter is not my favorite but it needs to be done. There is not much action but next chapter...get ready for some action packed stuff. No rants today either. Read and Review!**

**Disclaimer: Young Justice is not mine.**

The Real You

_THREE MONTHS LATER_

Three months. It had been three months since Artemis disappeared and there was still no trace of her. Oliver hired the best detectives, got Sportsmaster put on the FBI's most wanted, and did everything in his power to try and find her, but he didn't. The wedding had been postponed, Oliver and Dinah was rarely on the cruise for the first two months, doing everything they could to find her. They traveled across the country, following the few leads they ever got. Nothing worked. It was almost as if she had disappeared into thin air with her father.

Wally and the rest of them had tried to help as well, but there was little they could do but sit and wait. Wait for their friend to return. Wait to hear if she was even still alive. Always waiting. The group had become much more somber, the beautiful places they saw having no affect on them as they continued to travel around the Atlantic and Caribbean on the ship. Anyone who saw them would think they were living the dream. But lately, it had felt more like a nightmare.

On this particular day, the boat was in port in Miami after a two week cruise along the coast of Central America. It was June and Barbara was coming in a few days to spend the summer working on the ship. Wally moped the deck, not really paying attention to anything, simply lost in thought. He had been like this a lot recently, talking less, thinking more, usually a grim look on his face.

He barely noticed when Conner approached, leaning against the wall of the arcade as Wally moped. He didn't say anything for a while. The two of them thinking together in quiet. Wally looked up, realizing that Conner was there. At the base of his left sleeve, Wally could make out the faint scar line from one of Sportsmaster's knives. Wally had a scar on his forearm as well from the javelin. He winces as he remembers Artemis' anguished cries for her father to stop.

"What's up Con?" Wally asked.

"I got mad again." Conner simply says. "I pictured him hurting Artemis like he hurt the rest of us."

"What did you break this time?" Wally replies.

"A lounge chair. Megan began to cry afterwards because apparently it was the one that Artemis sat on when she first joined us. How Megan remembered that, I don't know." Conner says, sighing. Wally nods. "I tried to comfort her, but she left to go talk to John."

"Typical of her to remember though. You seen any of the others?" Wally asked.

"Raquel and Zatanna are on the mainland with Diana shopping. Diana thought it would be therapeutic or something. Kaldur is in is room, writing a response to the letter Garth sent him. Dick is somewhere and Megan is with John somewhere. Jason is with Bruce doing some research on a recent string of thefts in Gotham." Conner says. Wally nods again, staring at the bucket besides him.

"They all want us to move on." Wally says.

"Not move on. I believe the words that Clark used were "return to normal"." Conner says with air quotes.

"But how can we be normal? We don't even know if she is alive. How am I supposed to pretend everything is alright?" Wally asks. Conner shrugs.

"Artemis is practically my sister." Conner says. "I just want to know if she is alive." The two are silent. "She's alive isn't she?"

"I hope so Con." Wally replies.

"You think these thefts in Gotham will turn anything up?" Conner asks.

"I don't know. Ollie, Dinah, and Roy are all out there now. I hope so, I really hope so." Wally replies.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^

Jason stared at the computer besides Bruce. On screen were several articles on crime scenes. At each one a black or orange bolt for a crossbow was found.

"You think it's her?" Jason asks his adopted father with hope.

"I don't know. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up yet, especially Oliver." Bruce says, thoughtfully staring at the screen.

"You know, you are kind of good at this detective stuff." Jason says to the man.

"Really?" Bruce says with a half smile. "Why don't you go find Dick and see what he is doing? I'll finish up here."

"You sure you're okay?"

"I'm good Jason."

With that, Jason disappeared out of his adopted father's room. He had never been good with authority before, but since coming to the ship, things had changed. He respected Bruce. He had friends. He was happy...well...until Artemis was taken. It was hard to be happy wondering what had happened to his friend.

He found Dick sitting pensively on the roof of the dining hall. Jason sat down besides his brother.

"Do you think credible is the opposite of incredible?" Dick asks him. "Credible would be something believable, something boring."

"I guess so. I mean, the word already exists, but sure." Jason says.

"Well then this day was very credible. It was boring and I hated it." Dick states. Jason couldn't help but smile at that.

"I have to agree with you on that Grayson." Jason says.

"You think she's okay?" Dick asks out of nowhere.

"Course she is, she's Artemis. Artemis dead is completely unfathomable." Jason states.

"Yeah, her being alive is very fathomable." Dick responds. He changes the subject quickly. "Barbara is coming in a few days." He elbows his brother in the shoulder. Jason's cheeks turn red.

"Yeah, so what?" Jason asks.

"Whatever man, deny your feelings all you want, but I know the truth."

"That you're delusional?"

"No, that you like her. She's my best friend you're my brother. I approve." Dick tells him.

"I wasn't looking for your approval Grayson."

"Well, I just gave it to you anyways." Dick responds. Jason rolls his eyes and the two of them lapse into silence, watching the sun set in the distance on another credible day.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

Tigress slinked up to the window and elbowed the glass, breaking it. She slid in through the window, Sportsmaster right behind her.

"Nice find baby girl." Sportsmaster says, putting an arm on her shoulder. She shakes it off and walks away from him, adjusting her orange and black mask. Sportsmaster reaches out and tightly grabs her forearm. "Don't walk away from me when I am talking to you."

Tigress says nothing. She waits a few seconds and when she sees that he is done talking, she continues down the long hallway until she found the stairs out of the basement of the museum. It was pretty minor, they doubted anyone would care enough to break in through the small basement window, let alone put in the surveillance time to locate it. But Tigress did.

She walked up the stairs and at the top; she shot out a crossbow at the camera, taking it out. A siren went off. Sportsmaster reached her seconds later.

"What the hell did you just do?" Sportsmaster asks her, furious.

"Oops." Tigress simply says.

"What kind of game are you running? Are you forgetting that I can hurt your friends any second." Sportsmaster threatens. Before he realizes it, Tigress has her crossbow trained on him.

"I agreed to come with you, not do your dirty work." Tigress replies. She slinks back down the stairs, followed by Sportsmaster, grabbing things in the basement where the museum stored their most valuable things at night. The two of them pull themselves up out of the small window and disappear into the night amidst the sounds of approaching police sirens.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

"The jewelry stolen was expensive. The job would have gone off without a hitch if a crossbow had not been shot at the camera, alerting us to the break in." The police officer explains to Oliver Queen. He holds up the evidence bag with the black arrow from a crossbow. Oliver nods and walks away from the man.

This had Artemis written all over. The arrow, the shot that ended the theft early before anything really precious could be stolen. For just a small moment, a smile crossed his face. That was the Artemis he knew, the one who defied authority and did her own thing. This was her message to him she was here.

His smiled was wiped away when he wondered what it would cost her. What would her "father" do to her? His skin boiled in anger at the thought. That man was not her father, he was. He held her when she cried, he made her feel safe, and he loved her. That other man did not.

He walked over to the parked black car and drove back to the hotel to tell Dinah and Roy what he had discovered. It wasn't much. But it was all they had. They were going to bring her back, not matter what it cost.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^

Roy sleepily walked into his hotel room. He had been working out in the gym for hours, only taking a break to hear Ollie's news. There was no archery range in the hotel, so he had to settle for the next best thing. He had barely flipped on the lights and shut the door when he was being pushed up against the wall, a Sais under his neck. He saw that his attacker was Jade, but his tired mind took a moment to comprehend it.

"Jade...What?" He said.

"How could you let him take her? How could you? I trusted you to take care of her." Jade seethes, nearly putting her Sais through his throat. He was awake now.

"What? You never said anything about that. And I tried to stop her. She's even more stubborn then you." Roy replies.

"I assumed that it was implied that you were to take care of my BABY sister." Jade says, nearly shouting.

"Would you quiet down, somebody is going to hear you." Roy replies coldly. "Why are you even here. If you really cared about Artemis you would have been looking with us from the start. She's been gone three months, why are you here now?"

"I was detained for three months by my superiors. I was stuck on a long-term heist in Japan. I return home to learn that my sister has been kidnapped." Jade responds. Roy then notices the bandages covering her arms that had not been there before. Some of them were bloody and the others were dirty.

"What happened to you?" Roy asks.

"Nothing." She replies automatically. "Don't change the subject."

"I'm not trying too. You want some bandages or something? I have some gauze in my suitcase." Roy offers.

"Trying to make up for not helping one Crock sister by helping another? Sorry, I don't want your pity." Jade responds.

"Why do you always do that?" Roy asks.

"Do what?"

"Get defensive about everything. What, is nobody allowed to see the Jade behind the Cheshire smile? Is nobody allowed to be your friend?" Roy asks.

"No. I don't need friends." Jade replies.

"Everyone needs friends. Artemis realized that. She made friends." Roy tells her.

"Stop changing the subject! This is about the fact that you let that monster take her!" Jade responds.

"I tried to stop her Jade, I really did." Roy says, hanging his head. "She was determined though and if you even know her at all then you know that nothing gets in the way of Artemis Crock and her goals." Jade's expression lightens a little, but she doesn't remove her hold on him. "Why do you even care Jade?"

"Because she's my sister."

"Then why haven't you cared before?"

"Because before she was safe! My job is to keep her safe, no more."

"No, your job as a sibling is to be there always. I was a terrible sibling at first, but I've changed. You can too." Roy tells her.

"I can't Roy. I'm sorry. I know you think that I can be good and everything, but I can't. I never can." And with that the lights turn off and the pressure on Roy is released. He switches on the light to see that she was gone.

^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

Artemis stared out at the city night. Gotham seemed to twinkle at night, but she knew better.

Wally watched the lights of the city dance in the distance. For a second he could pretend everything was alright, but he knew better.

Artemis thought about him.

Wally thought about her.

He felt a million miles away from her. But she imagined his laugh. She remembered how ridiculous he looked when he ran into her that first day.

She felt lost to him. But he could vividly imagine her eye roll. He remembered how hot she looked that first time he ran into her that first day.

She wanted to be besides him, not sitting on this lonely Gotham roof, with a black eye forming as punishment for her "game" earlier that night.

He wanted her to be besides him, sharing a lounge chair as they laughed with their friends into the late hours of the night.

They both saw the shooting star. She wished for him, he wished for her.

Neither got their wish.

**A/N: So I am ending it there for a reason. This is just kind of everyone's feelings after the events of the last chapter. Sorry for the lack of action. The next chapter will be good, I promise. Review!**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: I'm really sorry guys. I planned on having this up on Monday since I was busy all day Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, but things got really hectic and I ended up staying at my friend's house for a while instead of working on this. Marathon Monday has always been a really awesome day of the year around here in Boston; I can't believe somebody would do something this terrible. So once again, I am really sorry that this is up later then planned.**

**Disclaimer: Young Justice does not belong to me; season three would have already permired if I had any say about it. **

The Climax

Oliver, Dinah, and Roy returned from their trip to Gotham two weeks later with no success. Wally watched them from the deck with Dick as they trudged up the gangplank; an air of melancholy surrounded them.

"Where is she?" Wally asks angrily to nobody in particular as the three Queens headed up to the Watchtower.

"Somewhere out there." Dick responds. The two boys left the deck to go finish getting all the rooms ready for the next trip. Oliver and Bruce decided to do a grand reopening to introduce their new improved cruise schedule. It allowed more time between cruises for Oliver to follow any leads on Artemis and still be able to be on the ship. They were having a big fancy ceremony and everything.

"I just..."

"We all do Wally. We all do."

^^^^^^^^^Line break^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Why?" Artemis asks her father as she stares out at the familiar landscape from the abandoned apartment they inhabited.

"That ship of yours, grand reopening, big ceremony, big cash." Lawrence says, barely looking up from where he was cleaning his javelin. Artemis gave the weapon a menacing glare, that thing had gone through Wally and Dick.

"I'm out. You can go solo on this." Artemis tells him, with a steely expression.

"No can do baby girl. Not after that stunt you pulled back in Gotham." Lawrence tells her. Without thinking, her hand goes up to her eye. The major bruising had gone down, but it was still a bit yellowish. She had her father to thank for that.

"I'm not stealing from them. Oliver is my father more than you are." Artemis spits out at him. He gets up from his javelin and crosses the room to where Artemis was leaning against the wall in only a few strides. He slaps her across the face and she falls to the ground.

"No more backtalk from you. You'll do as you say or one of your friends or real "father" will find themselves with a javelin through the heart." Lawrence threatens. He walks out of the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him. He doesn't even lock it, knowing that Artemis wasn't go to make a break for it.

It was tempting, to leave and be done with all of this. Not have to worry about being forced to kill anymore. She could do it, disappear and never be seen from again. She could easily make a new life in France or somewhere. Like Jade always says, every Crock girl for herself.

She couldn't do it though. Her friends-no her family- meant too much to her. She would do anything for them. She had changed in the months she had lived them. It was no longer she against the world; she had people to stand besides. People to live for. She was going to keep them safe, all of them if it was the last thing she did.

^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^

Roy watched quietly as crewmembers carried tables up onto the deck. Diana Prince was in charge of putting everything together since Dinah was "out of it". She was hurrying around the tables, placing down arrangements, her black hair swishing back and forth. Tired of watching, Roy walked away from the scene and down the gangplank. He needed to get away from it all.

He walked along the dock and then down a random street. He had no clear destination, just away from the ship. He wasn't thinking of much, just walking. He wondered down an abandoned alley. For the second time in a matter of weeks, he soon found himself pushed up against a wall by Jade.

"You know, we really need to stop meeting like this." Roy states. "You mind letting me down?"

She released him and he landed back on the ground on his feet. "I needed to get your attention."

"And a simple "Hey Roy" wouldn't suffice?" He questioned. She shrugs.

"Crusher is in town, that means Artemis is too." Jade tells him. He stared at her in shock.

"Are you certain? How did you find this out?" Roy asks. She shrugs.

"I have my ways Roy Harper and I am one hundred percent certain. Can you guess what they would be casing?" Jade asks him.

"The ship. The grand opening. The big auction for Dinah's charity. There are literally million dollars worth of items on the boat right now." He says as realization dawns on him.

"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner." Jade responds sarcastically. She eyes the end of the alley as a police car goes flying by. She continues to stare for a few more moments before turning back to Roy.

"What are we going to do?" Roy asks.

"You mean, what are YOU going to do." Jade informs him.

"What do you mean? She's your sister. You were ready to murder me two weeks ago for "letting her go"." He says using his fingers for the air quotes.

"I can't get involved. I've spent too much time running and hiding from my father to risk him finding me. Do you know how hard it is to make your way on your own as a thirteen year old?" Jade asks.

"I'm sure it was very difficult Jade, but still. Artemis is your sister, doesn't blood run thicker then water?" Roy asks.

"Not in the Crock family, blood is as thin as a dollar bill." Jade states.

"I'm sorry your childhood sucked Jade. I'm sorry you had to grow up to fast. But Artemis had the same things happen to her. She was running too."

"And she should have kept running. The moment she knew he was in Miami, she should have run. It's not my fault she was so stupid."

"It was brave."

"It was idiotic."

Roy sighed in annoyance. To think that prior to five months ago, he had hated Artemis' guts. Now he was defending her actions. Now he would do anything to save the girl he had come to think of as his sister. He stared at the girl before him and for the first time, everything Artemis had ever said about Jade was sinking in.

Without another word, Roy turned around and began to walk away. Jade was suddenly besides him, pushing him up against the wall again. Roy swung out his leg, knocking Jade to the ground.

"I'm done talking to you Jade. You're selfish and only concerned with how to meet your needs and your wants. I'm going to go save MY sister, since she could barely be called yours. I'm not doing this anymore Jade. Find some other boy's head to screw with."

"What the hell does that mean?" Jade stood up and brushed dirt off of her green top and black leggings.

"It means that I've been worried about you! Jade, you completely disappeared. For all I knew you were dead. And now you decide to show up, of all times, you show up now. And you don't even care enough to help save your sister! You're so selfish."

"I never asked you to worry about me Red."

"You don't get a say in that decision." Roy scoffs, turning around. "Good bye Cheshire."

She watched him disappear down the alley. His words, they stung. They hurt more than she would ever let anyone know. Him and Artemis, the two of them had always known exactly what to say to hurt her. Artemis was always devious and used it to her advantage as children. Roy, he was different. Somehow in the short time they had spent together, he had figured her out. He had been able to see right through everything. He saw her.

She wished she called out. She wished she ran after him. She wished she could help him save Artemis. She wished for a lot of things, but in then end, she ran. She ran just like every time the going got tough. So despite her concern for Artemis and whatever feelings she had for Roy, she ran, carrying her broken pieces with her as she left, hoping she didn't drop any.

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^

Wally and Kaldur look over from their shoot around basketball game when they heard a person running up the gangplank. They exchanged weird looks. Wally put the ball on the ground and the two boys walked off of the court, nearly running right into an angry Roy.

"There you guys are." Roy says.

"What troubles you my friend?" Kaldur asks, staring at the boy curiously. Zatanna emerged from the dining hall where she had been coerced into helping set up. She stood besides her friends, looking at Roy curiously.

"Um...what's going on?" She asks.

"I think Artemis is coming here." Wally was pretty sure his heart stopped. His mouth, along with Kaldur and Zatanna's, dropped to the ground.

"What? How? Are you sure? This isn't a trick right? Is..." Wally asks. Zatanna cuts him off.

" What Kid mouth means is can you expand on your first statement?" Zatanna asks.

"Jade told me." Roy states.

"Um...whose Jade?" Wally asks.

"Oh yeah, you only know about Lawrence. Jade is Artemis' sister." Roy explains.

"Alright, and is she a trustworthy source?" Kaldur asks.

"Define trustworthy." Roy grumbles. The other three give him a weird look. "Look guys, Jade is a thief like her dad but she cares for Artemis, even though she doesn't always show it. She's also connected, so if her sources say that the two of them are here in Miami, then most likely they are here in Miami."

Roy gives them a few minutes to let the news truly sink it.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go get her." Wally exclaims, moving towards the gangplank. Kaldur reaches out and stops him.

"Wally, I know you want her back, we all do, but we can't rush into this. Sportsmaster is a dangerous criminal."

"And we have no clue where she is." Zatanna adds.

"That too." Kaldur says. Wally groans in frustration and sits down on the deck.

"We're never going to get her back."

"We will." Kaldur assures him. Wally looks up at him.

"How? What if she doesn't even want to come back? What if she likes being a criminal?" Wally asks. His three friends look at him with shocked expressions. Zatanna reacts first. She crouches down so that she was eye level with Wally and slaps him across the face.

"Snap out of it Wallman. I don't want to hear that talk from you again. This is Artemis we are talking about. She risks her life to save ten-year-old girls and always tries to do what is right. Now, I know you are stressed out, but I don't want to hear that again out of you." Zatanna lectures. She stands back up straight. "Now, we need to tell everyone else."

"We need a plan." Kaldur adds. Roy nods his head.

"We can begin by gathering everyone else, then we can form a plan." Roy says. Wally looks up at his friends, Zatanna's words sinking in. He stands back up.

"Should we tell the adults?" Wally asks. Roy shakes his head.

"Ollie would probably ramp up security and that would tip Sportsmaster off that we know and he and Artemis would be gone by midnight and we would be nowhere again." Roy states. "No, we are doing this ourselves."

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^

Wally walked along the starboard deck, stopping at the spot where they all used to meet. Dick, Roy, Raquel, Megan, and him were all patrolling this time around. They had been patrolling the ship all night in waves to be careful not to tip off the adults or anyone watching the ship. It was now nine thirty. At ten, the auction will begin. At the moment, all the stuff was stored in the arcade.

Stuffing his hands in his suit jacket, Wally sat down on a lounge chair, hidden in the shadows. He hoped that this would work. He hoped that by tomorrow at this time he would have Artemis back in his arms. He missed the smell of her hair, her smile, her sarcastic remarks and the way she never put up with his crap. He missed everything that made Artemis, Artemis.

Suddenly, a grappling hook was wrapping around the railing. He sunk farther into the shadows, sliding off of the lounge chair to hide behind it.

_Starboard Deck, meeting spot. _

He sent the message to everyone in the group. He hoped that it wasn't Sportsmaster coming up the side of the boat. He heard a person come over the side. He held his breath as he popped his head out from behind the lounge chair...

Artemis stood against the railing in an orange and black costume and a mask. His heart leaped out of his chest. In his excitement, he knocked into the chair. Artemis looked right at him.

"Wally?" She asks tentatively. He jumped up from behind the lounge chair.

"It's me babe." He says. The two of them stood still in their spots for a few moments. Wally didn't know who moved forward first. Either way, in the next moment Artemis was back in his arms, he removed her mask. Their lips met in the middle. Finally, after a long three months, she was back.

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^

Once the two of them finally broke apart, Artemis stared at him in amazement.

"How?" She asked him tentatively.

"Roy got a tip from Jade." Wally explains. She nods. She knew her sister wasn't at the party, but it was nice to know she cared enough to tell them. She hugged Wally again, kissing his cheek.

"I missed you." Artemis states.

"I missed you too." Wally responds. Artemis breaks away from him suddenly. She gently pulls the mask out of his hands and refastens it.

"I can't stay." Artemis tells him.

"What do you mean?" Wally asks.

"Wally, the deal was that I stayed with him, and you, the others, my mom, jade, no one gets hurt. I leave, and he hurts someone. Wally, he could kill my mom." She tells him.

"We can figure something out, send him back to jail." Wally suggests. She shakes her head.

"He was in Belle Reve Wally, the most secure prison. If that can't hold him, nothing will. This is the only way that I can assure that nobody gets hurt because of me."

"We're all hurt. We've been a wreck without you. Every single one of us has been so worried about you." Wally informs her.

"Don't be."

"And how are we to do that?" Wally asks, anger flashing in his eyes.

"I don't know Baywatch! I have to do this!"

"Stop being such a martyr!"

"It's the right thing!"  
"It's the stupid thing!"

"I have too."

"No you don't."

In the midst of their yelling at each other, they hadn't noticed the rest of their friends appear.

"At each other's throats already? Wow, you two are really just perfect for each other." Jason says with a smirk. Artemis stops mid yell, and turns to her friends.

"Guys?" She asks tentatively. That was all Megan needed to launch herself at Artemis. She hugged Artemis so tight; she almost thought she was going to break in half.

"I've missed you so much." Megan says as she begins to cry. Raquel and Zatanna were there suddenly as well, all four girls in a big group hug.

After a few moments, they came apart and Artemis greeted her other friends. Dick pulled her into a big bear hug, as well as Conner, very uncharacteristic of him. Kaldur gave her a smile and grasped her shoulder. She was the one to pull him into a hug, same with Jason.

"Missed you 'Mis." Jason tells her quietly.

"Missed you too Jay." She responds. She takes a step back from her friends and looks them all over.

"I've missed you all but..."

"What a cute reunion." Sportsmaster mocks. They all spin around to see the big man holding a knife to Wally's neck.

"Stop!" Artemis shouts. "I'm still working with you. You can't break our agreement."

"Baby girl, I don't need to do anything." Lawrence replies, digging the knife into Wally's neck a bit, a thin trail of blood running down his neck.

"What else do you want? You already own me? Don't do this." Artemis pleads.

"You need to learn some obedience." Lawrence tells her. Before he could cut Wally's throat, an arrow came flying through the air, hitting his shoulder. He loosened his grip enough for Wally to break free and punch him in the face. Artemis spotted Roy standing behind Sportsmaster, another arrow already notched.

"Here." He says, tossing her another bow. Sportsmaster stands up quickly, eyes wild.

"Wrong move." He says, going to hurt her friends.

"Run!" Artemis shouts out to them, as she drops the bow and sprints at Sportsmaster. She jumps up onto his back, wrapping her legs around his neck. She leans back, using her momentum to send them both crashing to the ground. Her friends still stood there, unsure what to do. "I got him. Go get Ollie. Call the pol-" She is interrupted as Lawrence shoves her hard and she goes skidding across the deck. "Go!"

Her friends retreat looking back with fear in their eyes. This left just Artemis and her father. The two of them stood up, staring at each other.

"I guess this was always bound to happen." Lawrence states.

"One of us was always destined to take down the other, from that first moment I rebelled and refused to kill for you." Artemis says.

"Well baby girl, it was nice knowing you." Lawrence says pulling his hammer.

"What no javelins for your "baby girl"?" Artemis taunts, ducking as he threw the metal ball at her face.

"No, those are used for actual opponents."

"Or torturing my friends." Artemis says, firing a crossbow net. Even now, despite everything, she couldn't kill her father. Thinking she could had been wishful thinking all along. Killing him would make her no better then him. And despite everything, he was still her father. She did not want his blood to stain her hands forever.

He sent the hammer her way again, and she dodged moving in the strike. She stepped on his stomach, grabbing his shoulders, and using her momentum to send him flying down the deck, docking her head to avoid the hammer.

She landed on her feet and prepared for his next strike. He chuckled as he stood up, brushing himself off.

"I trained you well baby girl." He says smugly.

"I trained myself." Artemis says. "You started my training, but I finished it." She sends another net flying at him, but he pulls out a javelin and rips it in two. He throws the hammer at her again and she grabs a pole jutting out from the roof and pulls herself up out of the way. Standing on the roof of the arcade, she took a deep breath and prepared herself. She listened for her father.

Artemis was soon flying to the ground, landing on the roof with a thud. A pain flared up in her legs and blood began to stain the white.

"Did I do that? I'm sorry." Sportsmaster taunts from the other end of the roof. He throws a discus at her, cutting her arm. She rolls over and hops back up onto her feet, firing a crossbow at him. She fires another and then another. Sportsmaster backed up until he was standing on the edge of the roof. He turned around, only seeing ocean below him.

"Did I do that?" Artemis asks, looking at the cut on his shoulder. "I'm sorry." She fires another crossbow, and ducks below his hammer. "You know, I'm beginning to think that you're a tad rusty at this." She fires an exploding arrow and when the smoke clears, nobody was there.

**A/N: So I hope this long chapter made up for the fact that it is late. Thank you to the guest who gave me the idea of the reopening. It was the perfect way to get Artemis back to the ship. One more chapter, and then the epilogue. Review and tell me your thoughts. Pray for the victims of the Boston Marathon Bombings. A few, including a five-year-old boy, are still in pretty critical condition. **


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: Hello! Lia here! I don't have much to say, just wanted to say hi. Hope everyone is having a good day. Please read the author's note below. Warning, high T this chapter for Character death. **

**Disclaimer: I. Do. Not. Own. Young. Justice. Period.**

Conclusions

Was it really over? Artemis let out a breath that she hadn't known she was holding until she heard an anguished cry and she quickly inhaled another breath. She ran over to the edge of the roof to see her father holding onto a beam over the edge of the water. If he fell from this height, the water would feel like cement and he would surely die. Unsure why she did what she did next, she leaned over and extended her hand.

"Take my hand." Artemis orders. His mask was off and the face she saw was not Sportsmaster's, but her father. And despite all the hell that he had put her through, hurting her friends, threatening her real family, he was still her father. She could hate him all she wanted, but she couldn't just sit back and let him fall to his death. She would prefer to have him rotting away in a jail cell.

"No, I don't need your help baby girl." He spits out, struggling to hold on to the slippery plastic.

"This is stupid, just take my hand." Artemis demands. From the deck, she could hear commotion.

"Oh my God!" She hears Megan shout.

"I would rather die." Lawrence tells her.

"You're about to, just take it." Artemis shouts.

"I won't. Have fun living the life of the rich and famous while it lasts baby girl." A hand slips off of the pole. "You're not suited for it. Your weak, disgusting, unlovable..." his second hand slips.

Artemis watches in horror as Lawrence Crock begins to fall the several stories to the water. Before she could see him hit the water, a hand was covering her eyes and pulling her towards them. She caught a peak of familiar red hair before she was crushed into his chest. She heard a big splat.

"It's over Artemis." Wally whispers quietly. That was when it finally hit her. No more running, no more fear, no more worry, it was over. She was free. She wrapped her arms around Wally, taking in the familiar warmth. She was free.

^^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^^^^

Wally helped her climb down from the roof since the injuries from her fight with Sportsmaster were beginning to show. She gingerly climbed down, wincing as something hit a tender spot on her arm from where she had been hit with the hammer.

She stumbled slightly, but strong arms were there to catch her. She spun around to see Oliver, tears in his eyes. She may or may not have started to tear up as well.

"Hey dad." She said quietly. He pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. She ignored the burning of her injuries and returned the hug.

"I missed you so much Artemis." He whispers quietly, refusing to let her go.

"I missed you too." She replies. Finally he releases her, and she hugs Dinah and Roy before being pummeled by Megan and Zatanna again.

"You guys already hugged me." Artemis says laughing.

"I missed you." Megan replies.

"Me too." Zatanna replies. The two of them step away.

"We all did." Kaldur says with a smile. Artemis looked around at the people surrounding her. They loved her and she loved them. Her father was wrong. She belonged with them.

Wally wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her to him. He kissed her cheek, despite the look of disapproval from Oliver. Neither of them really cared as they grinned widely. Everything was finally going right.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^

The nine teenagers sat in the Cave the next day. Bruce had given them the day off so none of them had to deal with the onslaught of passengers coming on board. They had all had a late night, staying up until Artemis was all bandaged up. Artemis laughed along with her friends as Conner's face turned bright red.

"It wasn't that funny." He grumbles, crossing his hands across his chest.

"Dude, that girl like attacked you." Wally states, still laughing.

"I'm your girlfriend, I even I find it quite funny." Megan says.

"I can't believe that some thirteen year old girl followed you around everywhere for a week. God, I wish I could have seen the look on your face when she tried to kiss you." Artemis says, laughing. "Please tell me you have pictures Dick."

"Maybe I do." Dick says deviously. "Maybe I don't."  
"You better not." Conner says, glaring at the shorter boy.

"I do. I'll show you later." Zatanna tells her friend. The others all look at her. "What? He is my boyfriend. I've picked up a few things."

"I have one too." Jason adds. "I guess the whole brother thing is rubbing off on me."

Conner groans and leans back in his chair. "I thought it was bad with just one of them, now there are three."

"And it could grow." Dick says with a devious look.

"What?" Raquel asks, pulling her hand out of Kaldur's in shock.

"Well Babs is coming later today. And you never know, maybe Bruce will adopt again in the future. Or have his own child." Dick says shrugging. Megan, Conner, Kaldur, Wally, Artemis, and Raquel all groan.

"Soon they will outnumber us." Artemis says.

"And then we will never escape our most embarrassing moments because they will always be one of them around when it happens." Kaldur sighs sadly.

"It's going to be great." Jason states. The six glare at him, but he simply shrugs and laughs.

"Remind me why I am friends with you guys again?" Artemis asks.

"Oh get over yourself, you know you love me." Jason teases.

"You hitting on my girlfriend Todd?" Wally asks, good naturally.

"Maybe, maybe not." Jason taunts. Artemis rolls her eyes and reaches across the table to where he sat to give him a good punch in the shoulder. "I'm just kidding 'Mis."

Artemis leans back in her chair. Wally reached out his arm, resting it along the back of her chair. The two of them smile at each other.

"You guys are just to cute." Megan gushes. They look away from each other to their red haired friend across the table.

"Thanks?" Artemis asks.

"It was a compliment." Megan assures her. Raquel had been watching them all quietly, a large smile on her face.

"What's got you so happy Raquel?" Wally asks.

"Everyone's back together and everyone is happy again. The sun is shining and we are about to head off to another tropical place. I am living the dream with people who I can call true friends. Everything is perfect." Raquel says with a smile, wrapping her hand in Kaldur's. He smiles at her and kisses her cheek.

"Raquel is correct. Everything is...perfect." Kaldur affirms.

"I'll drink to that." Dick proclaims, holding up his cup of lemonade. Everyone follows suit, knocking his or her cups against each other's, smiling and laughing.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

Roy notched an arrow and released it. He didn't have much to do. Nobody was coming into the archery range and his classes didn't start until tomorrow. He had already finished his shift of helping people carry bags and find their rooms. He just did what he always did, practiced archery.

The familiar touch of the bow and the sound the string makes when he released his arrow has always been a comfort to him. He took a deep breath, notching another arrow and released. It was a bulls-eye. For a moment, he remembered the day he found Artemis in here shooting bulls-eye after bulls-eye. He took a deep breath, notched an arrow, closed his eyes, and then he was tapped on his shoulder. His arrow went wide, but he didn't care.

"Jade?" He questions spinning around. But instead of black hair, he found blonde.

"Sorry, wrong Crock." Artemis responds, good naturally. Roy sagged, sitting down on a bench. Artemis takes a seat besides him. "Sorry to disappoint you Carrot top."

"You boyfriend's a ginger, why don't you call him that?" Roy grumbles.

"I already have nicknames for Kid Idiot." Artemis responds. Her smile and laughter fades away though and she looks at him seriously. "Are you okay Roy?"

"I'm fine." He responds curtly. "You were right about Jade though. She's selfish and only cares for herself."

"You got the selfish thing right, but I don't think she only cares for herself." Artemis says.

"Really? I would think you would agree wholeheartedly on me." Roy responds surprised.

"The selfish thing, definitely. But the fact that she even risked telling you that Sportsmaster and I were in town, that makes me think that she does at least care for me a little. And you." Artemis says.

"Me?"

"Yeah. She's shown her face to you what...twice?"

"Three times."

"Exactly. She's definitely taken a liking to you and your mood swings." Artemis teases him.

"Shut up." He says, elbowing her with a smile. She elbows him right back.

"I think she is scared too."

"Scared? Jade?" Roy questions.

"Yeah. Our father was always really harsh on her. She took the brunt of the insults for me when I was young. And as much as she tried to hide it from me, it hurt her. That's why she didn't come to help, her fear of him. Now that he is finally..." Artemis paused for a second. "Dead, maybe she'll come back."

"I doubt that, Jade is probably long gone now. She disappeared just like..."

"The Cheshire cat." Artemis finishes for him. Roy looks over at her. "Jade would always read that to me when our parents fought."

Roy nods. "Anyway you put it, she's long gone by now."

"Maybe we can find her." Artemis suggests.

"Weren't you the one who said that you can only find her if she wants to be found?" Roy questions.

"Yeah, but it wouldn't hurt to try. You obviously like her."

"No I don't." Artemis gives him a look. "So what if I do?"

"Well, it's a little weird, but I approve if it makes you both happy. These past three months, they've made me realize just how important being loved is and how important family and friends are. Jade is my sister, she deserves to be happy and I think she could be happy here."

"On the boat?"

"Maybe, or just with us. You, me, the rest of them. I'm going to try to find her." Artemis states.

"You know what, I am too." Roy replies. The two of them smile at each other.

"So where's Wally? I would think the boy wouldn't leave your side for at least another week." Roy states.

"Oliver is having a "talk" with him." Artemis says, laughing.

"I'm guessing you didn't do anything to stop it?"

"Nope. This could be interesting."

"Definitely." The two siblings stayed in the archery range for a long time that day, catching up and hanging out, making promises that hopefully they could keep.

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^

Hundreds of miles away, a girl with black hair sat alone on a bus, a hat covering her eyes. The bus rumbled out of a station and the girl's travels continued. She didn't know where she was going, but anywhere but where she had come from would be fine with her. Escape; run, just like she always did. She sighed and stared out of the window, and for a second she imagined what her life could be like at that moment if she had stayed.

She quickly shook the thoughts out of her head. There was no point in dreaming of what could have been. She stared blankly out the window as the bus rumbled along the roads through nameless cities and towns.

^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^

"I can't believe you have a picture of us?" Artemis exclaims, looking at the picture on Dick's phone. It was of the two of them asleep in each other's arms.

"You guys feel asleep while we were hanging out up here, couldn't resist." Dick responds with a grin.

"It's a cute picture." Raquel offers.

"I feel like this breaks some sort of law." Barbara states.

"Oh lighten up, it's harmless fun." Jason says.

The ten of them sat in a semi circle, looking out at the moonlight reflecting in the ocean. They had left port right around dinnertime and were now off to their next location. Barbara had arrived on the boat, immediately dropping her bags and hugging Artemis tight.

Artemis stared out at the ocean quietly. She had only been back for twenty-four hours but it felt as if nothing had changed. But something had changed. They knew, and they didn't care. They didn't pity her. Artemis thought with sadness about how scared she had been to tell them. Looking back, Artemis felt stupid for not just telling them from the beginning. Her father's dying words were not true. She is loved.

"Hey, you alright?" Wally asks her softly, wrapping his arms around her. The others were locked in a heated discussion.

"I'm fine."

"You looked lost for a second back there."

"I just...I feel stupid for not telling you guys the truth in the first place."

Wally kisses her cheek and smiles. "You going soft on me now Blondie?"

"In your dreams Baywatch." Artemis replies, rolling her eyes.

"You had your reasons then and they were plausible. I was a jerk to you at first, why would you tell me your darkest secret? But you've never been your family and you never will be. You earned your place here and sure it would have been nice to know sooner, but it doesn't change anything. You're still an annoying harpy who I kind of somewhat love."

Artemis laughs. "I kind of somewhat love you too."

The two of them kiss then; despite the looks their friends were giving them. Later when they got into an argument, that ended with the two of them kissing again, their friends gave them the same look. But they also exchanged knowing looks with each other.

Everything was exactly how it should be.

**A/N: Next chapter will be an epilogue and it should be up by Friday. Thank you all for reading this story. I will have some shoutouts and more thanks in the epilogue, but all your reviews, likes, follows, and just reading this story have meant so much to me. And before I get a million questions about Jade, I left the part open because I think I might do a sequel some time in the future called Finding Jade or something like that and it would be a year or two in the future and focus on Roy, Artemis, and the gang trying to locate Jade. Would you guys want something like that? It won't be immediately in the future, I do want to take a break from this storyline and try something new out, but it would happen eventually. **

**Tell me your thoughts about this chapter, the story in general, my idea for a sequel, anything. Thank you all so much for reading. Peace. **


	28. Epilogue

**A/N: Beware; this will be a long author's note. You've been warned.**

** Thank you to everyone who has read this. You guys are awesome. You were all incredibly supportive. It was so helpful since this was my first story and before starting this story, I had always had an immense fear of people reading my stories. I am proud to say that I am mostly over that, thanks to you guys. I am happy that so many people have enjoyed this story and I hope you all will check out some of my future stories, which will be coming up soon. I have some specific people I would really like to thank for reviewing this story multiple times and for always bringing a smile to my face when I saw their reviews.**

**Kamil the Awesome, Bookworm2700, arbrick, ISCMHF, Irenerb, alamodie, noaverageangel, Awsomaniatica, RockyLover, better-in-black-since-1234, Spitfire1017, andrea-ninja girl, dancekiwidance, Artemis173, Blak-Ice, .94, TheRockingWriter, Ann b-010, beautifullove521, fischgrl, Sirens in the Water, EmpressPyrus, Oxoxmem17 and all the awesome guests who reviewed. Sorry if I missed anyone. **

** I'm going to do a sequel. It will focus mainly on Roy and Jade, but there will be plenty of Spitfire. Unsure of names yet, but it will happen sometime in the future. Look for it towards the end of May or June; I think I'll probably start work on it then. Alright, before I start rambling or ranting even more, without further ado, the epilogue. **

Epilogue

_Sixteen Years Later_

Artemis stared up at the large boat. It was huge; Ollie had really outdone himself this time. It was even bigger and sleeker then the one she had lived on as a teenager. She felt a tugging on her shirt and she looked down to see her youngest daughter.

"Mommy, Irey and Jai won't let me play with them and the others." She pouted. Artemis brushed back her daughter's blonde hair and looked into her emerald green eyes.

"Why don't you let them play with their friends sweetie? I'm sure they'll let you play with them later or tomorrow." Artemis suggests lightly, not wanting a fight to start. "You want to help daddy and I? And then maybe we can see if Auntie Megan and Uncle Conner are here with Maria. Okay?"

Artemis watches as Allie inwardly debates what she wanted to do. Before she could make a decision, a familiar figure walks up behind Artemis, exciting the little girl.

"Grandpa Ollie!" Allie screeched in her high pitch four year old voice. She ran at the older man, grabbing on to his leg. Artemis smiles at the man she considered her dad. She walked over and hugged him as well. He looked almost identical to the man who had greeted her on this very dock sixteen years ago. He wore a polo shirt, shorts, and Sperries and had the same smile. The only real difference was the gray hairs that had begun to sprout up much to his distress.

"Hey dad." Artemis says smiling.

"Artemis, I'm so happy to see you guys." He and Artemis broke apart and he bent down to pick up Allie. "Did you grow since the last time I saw you?"

"Maybe." Allie says giggling.

"Where are your..."Artemis shakes her head furiously before Oliver could say siblings. "Bags?" Oliver quickly says.

"Daddy is getting them." Allie tells him. She looks over his shoulder and spots somebody else. "Grandma Dinah!" She wiggles in Oliver's arms until he puts her down and she runs to the other blonde woman.

"When did she get so big? Seriously?" Oliver says shaking his head.

"Don't ask me. She has Wally's eating habits though which may have some contribution to it." Artemis says and the two of them laugh.

"Where are the twins?" Oliver asks her.

"They've run off with Sarah Grayson, Amistad Ahm, John Kent, Damian, Lian, and Rebecca Todd. They're somewhere on the boat. I made them all promise to stay close by." Artemis says. Oliver is about to say something when his phone suddenly vibrates.

"Oliver Queen." He answers giving Artemis an apologetic look. "Alright. I'll be up there soon." He snaps his phone shut.

"Hal having a problem?" Artemis asks smiling. He nods.

"We haven't even launched the new boat yet and we're already having problems." Oliver says rubbing his neck.

"Careful dad, you don't want any more gray hairs now do you?" Artemis teases. He glares at his youngest child.

"You're even worst then Roy." Oliver says. "I need to go now. I'll see you all at dinner?"

"We'll be there." Artemis assures him. Oliver smiles and hurries away to the ship. Artemis walks over to Dinah, giving the older woman a hug.

"Mommy can Grandma Dinah show me the new art display?" Allie asks with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Of course Allie, just stay with Grandma Dinah alright?"

"I will!" She assures her mom. Artemis smiles and turns to Dinah. She had never been able to call her mom, like she called Oliver dad. Even after her mother died a few years ago, Dinah was still just Dinah. Dinah didn't mind at all though.

"I'll keep an eye on her." Dinah assures, taking Allie's hand. The two of them walk towards the gangplank. Artemis smiles and turns around, colliding with her husband. Artemis goes flying to the ground.

"Seriously Baywatch? I thought we got this out of your system a long time ago." Artemis grumbles as he helps her up.

"Sorry Blondie." Wally responds, pulling her in for a quick kiss, baggage temporarily forgotten.

"Still a fan of public displays of affection I see?" The couple hears from behind them. They turn around to see Zatanna and Dick Grayson, Zatanna holding a sleeping Giovanni, or Gio for short, in her arms. The four friends all exchange greetings and hugs.

"So great to see you guys." Zatanna gushes.

"Zee, we just saw you guys like two weeks ago for Allie's birthday party." Wally states.

"Yeah, well I'm still used to living with you guys and constantly seeing you all." Zatanna responds. Dick wraps an arm around his wife's waist.

"Well, its about to happen again." Artemis responds.

"But this time we get the nice suites on the top floor." Dick replies. "No more cramped single bedrooms."

"That's for the new crop of teenagers they got." Wally replies.

"That will be our kids someday soon." Zatanna responds.

"Ugh, don't remind me." Artemis responds. "I'm already dreading the amount of trouble Irey and Jai are going to get themselves into."

"Oh, they'll be fine 'Mis." Dick assures her. "We all turned out okay."

"You sure about that?" Wally jokes. Dick elbows his best friend. "Hey!" Zatanna and Artemis exchange looks.

"Will you two ever grow up?" Zatanna questions, shaking her head. Gio wakes up at that moment, smiling and waving at his Uncle Wally and Aunt Artemis.

"Hi Gio." Artemis says.

"Is Allie here?" He asks sweetly.

"She's on the boat but I'm sure she'll love to see you later." Artemis tells him. Gio smiles satisfied, before falling back to sleep. Wally looks pensively at the little boy.

"Grayson, your son is not allowed to date my daughter." Wally states. Artemis face palms.

"Really Wally? They're four and three, isn't this a little premature?" Artemis asks her husband.

"I'm just saying." Wally grumbles.

"Gio is going to be the perfect gentleman that Allie would be lucky to date." Dick gloats. This time Zatanna is the one to roll her eyes.

"You want to head up onto the boat?" Zatanna asks Artemis as the two men continue to argue.

"I thought you would never ask." Artemis says, leaving her husband and best friend to bring up all of their bags.

"You would think that they haven't aged a day past when we all started here." Zatanna says, shaking her head as they approached the gangplank.

"I know, I mean seriously." Artemis says shaking her head. "You think this is a good idea Zee?"

"What do you mean?" Zatanna asks.

"I mean, bringing all the kids here, working on the ship again." Artemis asks. "I loved my years on board, but all the trouble we got into, that's going to be our children. I can remember several things we did that were borderline illegal and not to mention all the dangers and risks we always seemed to be taking."

"You're over thinking it Artemis." Zatanna assures her. "Everything will turn out okay and we all get to be near each other again. The children get to see the world and I doubt they could get into as much trouble as we did. It's a win win situation." Artemis thinks for a moment.

"You know, you're right."

"I'm always right."

"And that thing when we were eighteen..." Zatanna cuts her off.

"Okay, maybe not always." Artemis laughs as the two reach the top deck of the boat. The begin walking along the deck, just like Artemis did when she first arrived, only this time she had a friend besides her.

"Artemis! Zee!" Two voices exclaims from behind them. They spin around to see a pregnant Raquel and Megan bounding towards them. The four women embrace, a bit awkwardly on Zatanna's end with a sleeping child in her arms.

"When did you guys get here?" Raquel asks.

"About a half an hour ago." Artemis responds.

"Same." Zatanna responds.

"Where are Dick and Wally?" Megan asks.

"Arguing about Allie and Gio's apparent future relationship status." Zatanna responds. The two girls give them a blank look.

"We'll explain along the way to our rooms." Artemis replies with a laugh at her friends' confused faces.

^^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^^^

"So we can do that everyday now?" Allie asks excitedly as Artemis tucks her in that night. Artemis leans down and kisses her forehead.

"Yes. You can play with Gio, Maria, Adam, and Tessa all the time now. And you can spend lots of time with Grandma Dinah and Grandpa Ollie." Artemis tells her.

"I like that. Do you think we'll see dolphins?" Irey says from across the room. Since she was very old at the age of eight, she didn't need her mom to tuck her in at night. Artemis still walked over and kissed her forehead.

"Probably. Did you have fun today?" Artemis asks her. Irey nods.

"It was awesome! This place has a pool and a basketball court. You should have seen me mom, I beat John in one on one." Irey states, beaming with pride.

"Wow, that's exciting."

"He claims that I cheated, but I didn't." Irey assures her mother.

"I'm sure you didn't." Artemis responds, smiling. Her daughter resembled Wally in so many ways from her freckles to her fiery red hair. But she had Artemis' gray eyes and personality. "I'm going to say good night to Jai, daddy should be in here in a second. Good night."

"Night mommy!" Allie replies.

"Night." Irey says.

Artemis walks out of the girl's door and goes across the small hallway to Jai's room. She knocked gently before opening. Her eight-year-old son was propped up in bed reading a book. His blonde hair was crazy, sticking up at odd angles. She wanted to walk over and smooth it, but she knew her son hated.

"Hey mom." He says, barely looking up from his book with his green eyes.

"Just saying good night." Artemis says.

"Night mom." Jai responds. Artemis smiles softly and closes the door behind her. She walks out of the hallway into the main room of their suite. Her and Wally's room was next to the girl's room.

When Wally came out of the girls' bedroom, he snuck up behind his wife, wrapping his arms around her. She put down the last bag she had begun to unpack and spun around to face her husband.

"You ready to feel like a teenager again?" Wally teases, kissing her lightly.

"You never stopped." Artemis tells him, smiling. "Neither did Dick or Jason. Really, only Kaldur and Conner are the mature men around here."

"I'm going to not take offense at that. Besides, they were always mature." Wally states.

"Doesn't matter anyway, because I still love you."

"I love you too."

^^^^^^Line Break^^^^^^

"You did not!" Artemis shouts loudly.

"Guilty as charged." Barbara says with a small smile. The ten of them all burst out into laughter.

"You seriously started dancing on a table? Wow Babs, didn't know you had it in you." Dick comments. Barbara punches him in the shoulder.

"It was one night alright. The kids were with the babysitter and it was fun." She says shrugging.

"Definitely." Jason responds with the usual bat clan (long story) grin.

"No more, I don't want to hear anything else." Megan declares at that point. Jason smiles deviously as he takes a sip of beer.

"You know, I really feel like I'm having déjà vu right now." Conner states.

"I know. I feel like we are all sixteen again." Zatanna says in agreement.

"Oh totally. The lounge chairs, starboard deck, it's pretty much all the same as before." Raquel responds.

"Except for we're all old now and have kids." Artemis points out.

"You know, around you guys, I'm pretty sure we all revert back about sixteen years." Barbara says smiling.

"Definitely." Kaldur says nodding his head in agreement.

"At least now it won't be such a hassle to see you guys." Conner says.

"Oh don't forget that the younger kids are coming for a reunion in like a month. Then the whole gang will really be united." Jason says.

"They aren't kids anymore Jay." Wally says. "I mean Cassie, Tim, Jamie, Garfield, and Bart have all graduated from college."

"Weird." Zatanna comments. "In my mind, they are still the annoying little kids trying to follow us around on deck all the time."

"Cissie's graduated recently too." Artemis says, remembering the little girl whose life she saved. She usually talked to the girl once or twice a month to catch up. She was considering getting a job onboard.

"That too. We're so old." Raquel moans, resting her head on Kaldur's shoulder.

"Speak for yourself." Jason says.

"Your not that much younger Jay, you're what, six months younger then Dick? A year younger then Kaldur? It's not much." Barbara says to her husband.

"Do you guys ever miss being teenagers?" Conner asks a few moments later. They are all quiet as they muse on the question for a few moments.

"Sometimes I miss it, but I wouldn't trade Sarah or Gio for anything in the world." Dick finally says. They all nod. "But if I could travel back in time and change a few things, I could think of a few things."

"Agreed. I can definitely think of one or two embarrassing moments I wish I could go back and undo." Kaldur says. The whole group knew exactly what he would change, a night when they were all twenty-one and Kaldur went a little overboard with the alcohol. Yeah, it was a shock to all of them.

They all could think of some things they would change if they could and they all knew what each other would change as well. They had all experienced so much together. They had seen each other at their worse and at their happiest. Together, they experienced great happiness and great tragedy. They had all loved and lost. Living on a boat was not always easy, but none of them would ever have wanted to live anywhere else.

"I guess we've all come full circle now haven't we?" Megan asks.

"I guess so." Raquel responds. "I'm happy to be back."

"Me too." Artemis replies. Arriving on the boat, she hadn't known what to expect. She assumed she would hide out there for a few months but then move on when her dad got out. Now here she was at age thirty-two. She had lived twelve years past what she had thought she would. She had a family, friends, and a job. Everything she needed was right there on the ship.

She leaned back, resting her head on Wally's shoulder. The friends stayed up late that night, reminiscing about old times and anticipating new times. She looked up at the sky and quickly found the familiar constellations that she had made up as a child. She sighed contently and closed her eyes. She could worry about things later, be responsible later. For now, everything was perfect just as it was.

**Reference for the kids **

Wally and Artemis - Jai (8), Irey (8), Allie (4)

Dick and Zatanna -Sarah (7), Giovanni (3)

Conner and Megan - John (9), Maria (4)

Raquel and Kaldur - Amistad (8), Tessa (5)

Barbara and Jason - Rebecca (9), Adam (3)

Others:

Lian Harper (11), Damian Wayne (9)

**A/N: And Fin. Once again, thank you to everyone who read this story. Did you like the epilogue? The idea came to me about a month ago. I briefly considered having the epilogue be the wedding of Dinah and Oliver, but I really wanted to show them all in the future. Everyone got his or her happy ending:) I hope you all check out my new stories, which will be coming up soon. This story was a joy to write and I hope you all found some joy in reading it. Thank you once again to all of you awesome and beautiful readers. Review and tell me your thoughts on the epilogue or the story as a whole. Peace.**

**-Lia**


	29. IMPORTANT NOTE

Hey guys, It's me.

So I know that I originally planned to have my sequel to S.S. Justice start in late May or June. It's July. I wanted to let you all know that my sequel to this story will be called Miles From Where You Are. At the moment though, I do not know when I will be starting it. it will most likely not be this summer though.

Some of you may know that I have another story on here, it's called The New Archer in Town. If you haven't checked it out, please do. It's a crossover between the show Arrow and Young Justice. Anyway, I am in the middle of that and will hopefully be done with that this fall or by the end of this summer. Besides that, I am also doing a story on Fictionpress called The Team. I am cowriting it with another author on here, Punisher164. So between two stories and other works that I am working on, I have been really busy and haven't really had much of a chance to think out Miles From Where You Are.

I hopefully will start it this fall after I wrap up The New Archer in Town. I just wanted to give you guys a heads up, especially if some of you were expecting the sequel this summer. I'm really sorry, but it's just not going to happen for a few more months. I am really sorry if you are mad at me and if you never want to read the sequel now.

If you're not angry at me for all of eternity, please check out my other two stories. The New Archer in Town is on here and The Team is an original team of superheroes. Anyone who likes Young Justice or the X-men would probably like it. It's under the action section. New chapters are posted Sunday and new chapters for the New Archer in Town are posted on Thursdays.

Any questions, feel free to PM me. No flame messages though. I would not appreciate that.

Have an awesome summer everyone.

-Lia


End file.
